Full cross sectional correlation analysis on Socioeconomic Status (What is correlated to "high class"?)

[Seth Walsh]

Domain	Correlate of higher SES	Best quantitative estimate	What it means	Evidence
Social sorting	Partner/spouse educational attainment	r = +.66	Very strong educational assortative mating	Meta-analysis, 84 countries, N=9.16m
Intergenerational	Parents' ↔ children's wealth rank	≈ .39	Strong persistence of wealth across generations; ~.33 young adults → .44 ages 55–64	US multigenerational study
Status perception	Objective SES ↔ subjective social status	r = +.32	People objectively higher in income/education generally perceive themselves as higher status	357 studies, N=2.35m
Cognition	General cognitive ability/IQ	r ≈ +.27	Higher childhood/family SES associated with higher measured cognitive ability	Harwell meta-analysis; earlier estimate .33
Language	Young-child oral vocabulary	r = +.27	Better vocabulary performance	2026 meta-analysis, N=9,742
Education	Academic achievement	r ≈ +.22 to +.28	Higher test/school performance	International meta-analysis, up to N=5.10m
Language	Young-child word comprehension	r = +.23	Better directly measured word comprehension	2025 meta-analysis, N=8,211
Executive function	Children's executive functioning	r = +.16 overall; +.22 in SES-diverse samples	Better inhibition/working-memory/executive performance	Meta-analysis, N=8,760
Later cognition	Childhood SES → cognition after age 50	r = +.161	Childhood advantage predicts modestly better late-life cognition	2024 meta-analysis, N≈230k
	↳ Verbal fluency	r = +.196	Better fluency	Same meta-analysis
	↳ Global cognition	r = +.183	Better overall cognition	Same
	↳ Episodic memory	r = +.148	Better memory	Same
	↳ Processing speed	r = +.130	Faster processing	Same
Well-being	Subjective well-being	r = +.16 objective SES	Higher happiness/life satisfaction	357 studies, N=2.35m
	↳ Income specifically	r = +.23	Income shows larger association than education	Same
	↳ Education specifically	r = +.12	Small positive association	Same
	↳ Subjective SES	r = +.22	Perceived relative status correlates fairly strongly with SWB	Same
Self-esteem	Self-esteem	r = +.08	Higher SES associated with slightly higher self-esteem	446 samples, N=312,940
Loneliness	Loneliness	r = −.13	Higher SES associated with less loneliness	Meta-analysis; N=39,319
	↳ Income	r = −.17	Income component somewhat stronger	Same
	↳ Education	r = −.08	Small association	Same
Mental health	Health anxiety	r = −.14	Higher SES → less health anxiety	37-study meta-analysis
Mental health	Depression	OR low vs high SES = 1.70	Low-SES individuals had ~70% greater odds of depression	2025 systematic review/meta-analysis
Patience	Delay discounting	r = −.10 with family income	Higher-income youth discount future rewards less steeply	2026 meta-analysis
Risk preferences	Risk aversion	ρ = −.13 subjective SES; income −.10; education −.11	Higher status associated with somewhat greater willingness to take financial risk in older adults	N=933
Sleep	Objective sleep duration	r = +.16 composite SES	Higher SES → somewhat longer actigraphy-measured sleep	Meta-analysis
Sleep	Sleep efficiency	r = +.18 composite SES	Higher SES → better sleep efficiency	Same
	↳ Income → duration	r = +.18	Income gradient	Same
	↳ Income → efficiency	r = +.15	Income gradient	Same
Longevity	All-cause mortality	HR low vs high = 1.42 men; 1.34 women	Low SES strongly predicts premature death	1.7m-person multicohort meta-analysis
Cardiovascular health	CVD incidence	HR low vs high income = 1.22	Low income → 22% higher incidence	31-study meta-analysis
Cardiovascular health	CVD mortality	HR low vs high income = 1.37	37% higher mortality	Same
	↳ Low vs high education, incidence	HR = 1.44	Strong education gradient	Same
	↳ Low vs high education, mortality	HR = 1.50	Strong education gradient	Same
Obesity	Obesity, women	OR low vs high SES = 1.35	Lower life-course SES associated with more obesity	Meta-analysis, mainly developed countries
Obesity	Obesity, men	OR = .92; nonsignificant	No general pooled gradient in men	Same
Exercise	Organised-sport participation	OR high vs low SES = 1.87	High-SES children/adolescents nearly twice as likely to participate	104-study meta-analysis
Exercise	Meeting physical-activity guidelines	OR = 1.21	Higher-SES youth somewhat more likely to meet guidelines	Same; >1m participants
Diet	Healthy diet, education	RR lowest vs highest education = .62	Lowest-education group ~38% less likely to adhere	UK Biobank
Diet	Healthy diet, income	RR lowest vs highest income = .77	Lowest-income group ~23% less likely	Same
Smoking	Daily smoking, education	OR primary vs postgraduate = 11.62	Enormous educational gradient in Irish smoking	Irish national data, 2015–22, N=51,433
Smoking	Daily smoking, neighbourhood deprivation	OR most vs least deprived = 4.23	Large area-level socioeconomic gradient	Same Irish study
Oral health	Poor oral-health-related quality of life	PR low vs high SES = 1.30	Low SES → 30% greater prevalence of poor oral-health QoL	Meta-analysis, N=109,269
Alcohol harm	Alcohol-attributable mortality	RR highest vs lowest deprivation ≈3.31	Much higher alcohol-related mortality at socioeconomic bottom	25-study meta-analysis
Height	Adult height ↔ household income	+0.13 SD income / +1 SD height	A 6.3-cm height difference corresponded to ~0.13 SD household-income difference	UK Biobank, N=103,327
Attractiveness	Facial attractiveness ↔ earnings, men	β≈+.020 to +.033 in log earnings / SD beauty	Roughly 2–3% higher earnings per SD of rated attractiveness in this cohort; survives adjustment	Longitudinal cohort
Personality	Openness ↔ earnings	≈ +1.92% earnings / SD	Small positive association	2024 meta-analysis
	Conscientiousness ↔ earnings	≈ +1.61% / SD	Small positive	Same
	Extraversion ↔ earnings	≈ +0.30% / SD	Tiny positive	Same
	Agreeableness ↔ earnings	≈ −1.69% / SD	Small negative	Same
	Neuroticism ↔ earnings	≈ −1.78% / SD	Small negative	Same; publication-bias adjustment attenuates several personality effects substantially
Culture	Frequent arts/cultural engagement	RRR ≈1.73 per log-unit household income	Cultural engagement rises markedly with income; education/occupation gradients also large	UK Understanding Society
Volunteering	Voluntary work	OR≈1.12–1.19 for higher income in some subgroups	Higher SES/education generally associated with more volunteering, but results heterogeneous	Systematic review/meta-analysis
Environment	Residential greenness, income	SMD high vs low income = +.50	Higher-income populations live in substantially greener residential environments	2026 meta-analysis, 26 studies, N=9.4m
Environment	Residential greenness, education	SMD high vs low education = +.34	Similar but smaller educational gradient	Same
Environment	Air-pollution exposure	Direction: high SES → generally lower exposure	North American literature consistently finds disadvantaged communities more polluted; effect metric varies too much for a sensible universal r	Global systematic review

 

[Mansur]

Larping high IQ

 

[Seth Walsh]

Larping high IQ

Yeah right

 

[Seth Walsh]

Positively associated with high SES​

1. Partner/spouse educational attainment — r = +0.66
2. Intergenerational wealth rank — r ≈ +0.39
3. Subjective social status — r = +0.32
4. General cognitive ability / IQ — r ≈ +0.27
5. Childhood oral vocabulary — r = +0.27
6. Academic achievement — r ≈ +0.22 to +0.28
7. Word comprehension — r = +0.23
8. Subjective well-being from income — r = +0.23
9. Executive functioning — r ≈ +0.16 to +0.22
10. Verbal fluency in later life — r = +0.20
11. Sleep efficiency — r = +0.18
12. Sleep duration — r = +0.16 to +0.18
13. Global cognition in later life — r = +0.18
14. Overall subjective well-being — r = +0.16
15. Late-life cognition overall — r = +0.16
16. Episodic memory — r = +0.15
17. Adult height / income — ≈ +0.13 SD income per 1 SD height
18. Processing speed — r = +0.13
19. Education / subjective well-being — r = +0.12
20. Self-esteem — r = +0.08

Negatively associated with high SES / positively associated with low SES​

1. Loneliness — r = −0.13
2. Loneliness vs income — r = −0.17
3. Health anxiety — r = −0.14
4. Risk aversion — ρ ≈ −0.10 to −0.13
5. Delay discounting / preference for immediate rewards — r = −0.10
6. Loneliness vs education — r = −0.08
7. Neuroticism / earnings — ≈ −1.78% earnings per SD
8. Agreeableness / earnings — ≈ −1.69% earnings per SD
9. Daily smoking — OR = 11.62 for primary vs postgraduate education
10. Neighbourhood deprivation / daily smoking — OR = 4.23
11. Alcohol-attributable mortality — RR ≈ 3.31 highest vs lowest deprivation
12. Depression — OR = 1.70 low vs high SES
13. Cardiovascular mortality — HR = 1.50 low vs high education
14. Cardiovascular incidence — HR = 1.44 low vs high education
15. All-cause mortality — HR = 1.34–1.42 low vs high SES
16. Obesity in women — OR = 1.35 low vs high SES
17. Poor oral health — PR = 1.30 low vs high SES
18. Cardiovascular mortality — HR = 1.37 low vs high income
19. Cardiovascular incidence — HR = 1.22 low vs high income
20. Lower healthy-diet adherence — RR = 0.62–0.77 low vs high SES