Tell-tale signs someone is upper or middle class – according to an expert

A researcher has shared the tell-tale signs that give away whether a person is upper class, or whether they’re working class. The traditional class system is typically seen as an antiquated means of judging and categorising the masses. It’s often viewed as unfair and at odds with a progressive society due to how little control people have over the situations they’re born into.

The traditional social hierarchy in the UK was predominantly made up of the upper, middle and working classes, though this is no longer recognised as the case. As society has evolved and more and more people have greater access to and other means of altering their perceived social capital, there’s now believed to be around seven “classes”.

These seven classes were unveiled as part of the ’s 2011 , which recognised the “existence of an ‘elite’”, as well as a well-salaried ‘middle class’; a class of technical experts; a class of ‘new affluent’ workers; the traditional working class; the ‘precariat’ who is “characterised by very low levels of capital”; and “a group of emergent service workers”.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

A researcher has discussed the myriad ways the “upper class” might “signal” that they are, in fact, upper class to one another - or others - in a video on .

Dani Payne specialises in education and politics, and took to to detail the indicators of a person’s apparent “class” in day to day life.

In the footage, Dani, 26, responded to a fellow social media user who asked for examples of the “types of rules” that would make it “obvious” to someone from the perceived upper or middle classes that a person is from a working class background.

Dani explained: “There are lots of different ways that someone might signal that they’re part of, or have come from, a certain class background.”

How the upper or middle class ‘signal’ their status

Dani went on to discuss the theories of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu who “came up with this concept of cultural capital” and how this pertained to “upper and elite classes hoarding certain resources”, as well as experiences and knowledge that “signal to everyone else that they are part of that privileged class”.

She continued that as education became more egalitarian, a university degree was no longer the “great signaller of being upper class” because people from more diverse backgrounds were able to access higher education. This meant “behaviour” became a much stronger identifier of a person’s social status and privilege.

Dani said: “How do you act, how do you talk, for example - and that’s not just accent, although accent is a really big thing in the UK - but it’s also, what are you talking about? Do you know what’s polite conversation? Do you know it’s extremely impolite to ask about and wealth, etc?

“Do you have a wide vocabulary, are you well-read, and well spoken? All of these things signal allegiance to a certain class structure.”

Dani also stressed the importance of “membership to certain elite groups”, like a boys’ club, but also “experiences” such as whether a person has ever been to the opera, whether they go to art showings, whether they go on skiing holidays, and other similar activities.

The researcher then discussed the impact of “knowledge” and, more specifically, “what do middle and upper class kids know that we don’t teach working class kids”, which could be things like “how to navigate the university system”, as well as which is the “best university to apply for” and the “best course” to choose to study.

Dani also said knowing how to apply for a job and how to act in the workplace are also indicators of a person’s social background and class.

In the caption accompanying her footage, she said there would be “variation” within these examples and groups, and some “working class kids will know these things and some upper class kids might not” but the middle and upper classes have access to “certain resources, experiences and knowledge” that gives them an “inherent advantage”.