MOBILITY ORIENTATION AND STRATIFICATION OF 1,000 NINTH GRADERS.

In the analysis of social mobility in an open class system, three analytically distinct and empirically discernible variants should be noted. The first of these, mobility resources, refers to those qualities and conditions conducive to upward mobility that are either ascribed to or inherent in the individual, such as economic resources or basic capacities and abilities. The second, mobility skills, refers to learned patterns of behavior and acquired attitudes and values that are instrumental to mobility, such as the deferred ratification pattern, manners, and modes of communication. The third, mobility orientation, refers to aspiration levels within the stratification system that may serve as points of motivation in competition for position in the social structure. This paper is concerned primarily with the mobility orientation variable. There are two alternative interpretations of mobility orientation in American society. One assumes that mobility orientation roughly follows class lines, so that the middle and upper classes are the strivers while the lower classes set a level of aspiration that is largely satisfied within the limits of their own stratum.