Does the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status (SES) and System JustificationDepend on Civic Engagement?

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and system justification, a topic with varied findings in existing literature. Some studies suggest that lower SES individuals are more likely to justify the social system, while other studies report conflicting results. However, justifying the system while having a low-SES can have adverse consequences. It is associated with lower levels of self-esteem, increased levels of depression, neuroticism, ambivalence, and internalized stigma. Therefore, promoting a reduction in system justification among those with low-SES is important. Civic engagement could play a key role in reducing system justification. This study utilizes cross-sectional data from the Youth Got Talent database to examine whether the relationship between SES and system justification depends on civic engagement among vocational education students. A total of 434 students with a mean age of 17.5 participated in the study. Results indicated that SES was not negatively associated with system justification; instead, a non-significant positive relationship was observed. An explanation for this non-significant relation could be the way SES was measured. This highlights the need for future studies to examine the relationship between SES and system justification by measuring subjective and objective SES separately to gain a nuanced understanding of their distinct impacts on system justification. Furthermore, results showed that the relationship between SES and system justification did not depend on civic engagement. However, civic engagement had a significant positive association with system justification, underscoring the need to further explore how discussing and reflecting on societal issues influences perceptions of social justice.