Characteristics of Social Mobility

Characteristics of Social Mobility

The characteristics of social mobility as referred to by Melvin M. Tumin in his book “Social Stratification: The Forms and Functions of Inequality.”

1. Degree of competition: In an ideal open society, everyone has an equal opportunity to find the most suitable position, determined solely by their abilities and preferences. Suitability for a particular task is a function of native talent alone, with no hindrance from factors like birth, father’s position, nor differential access to training or motivation would in any way impede the free flow of persons into their most suitable niches.

2. Social Structure: In a closed society, social positions are fixed from birth, determined by factors like family ties or nepotism, with little regard for merit or equal opportunities. Individuals inherit their parents’ status, with criteria like personal connections governing position allocation instead of abilities or fairness.

3. Social mobility occurs within the dimension of time: Changes can occur from one generation to another (intergenerational mobility), or within one generation (intragenerational or career mobility), or one can be concerned with the amount of time, inter- or intragenerational, that it takes for persons to move from one set of positions to another.

4. Social mobility operates within a dimension context: One aspect that varies among systems of mobility is the context or institution where it takes place. This includes occupational or educational mobility, mobility in general evaluation, or shifts in material wealth or power.

5. Social Mobility refers to the mechanisms of mobility: A dimension concerns the mechanisms of mobility, where individuals attain positions through factors like ascription, achievement, maturation, and validation. They also transition between positions using similar pathways.

6. The unit of mobility: Individuals, families, groups, strata, or whole societies. All of these units, as well as others, are the proper object of study.

7. Social mobility between objective and subjective aspects of a change in status: An objective aspect might be an annual salary increase of ₹45,000/-; subjective aspects of this change concern the individual’s feelings about it-whether he considers it an improvement, whether he defines it as desirable, and whether he exerts effort to achieve it. What may seem to some to be an upward movement or improvement may be seen by others as no improvement at all or even a change for the worse.