Warm,cold,competent or incompetent? An empirical assessment of public perceptions of the higher and less educated

Abstract

Growing educational differentials in different domains have made some scholars wonder whether these differences have the potential to grow into an educational conflict and associated education-based group consciousness. In this article that question is contrasted with a body of literature which considers educational credentials a form of symbolic capital, that is, institutionalized social status. Theoretical insights derived from the social psychological stereotype content model are used to disentangle this apparent paradox. In the empirical section survey data from Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium; N = 1967) are used to assess the perceptions held by the public at large about the higher and less educated. A within-subject design whereby respondents rated the less and higher educated in terms of traits related to warmth and competence shows that indications of legitimate status differences but also intergroup conflict can be found depending on the dimension on which higher and less educated people are compared. In addition, the study demonstrates that higher and less educated groups use a different stereotype dimension to differentiate educational groups. The conclusion elaborates on the implications of these findings.