Social mobility and social integration

Abstract

In this paper we analyse the connection between social mobility and social integration. Social mobility is usually regarded as a positive phenomenon. However, Sorokin’s classic thesis assumes that mobility has negative impacts on social integration: socially mobile individuals might lose some of their social connections and the level of their well-being might decrease. Our main research question is whether the impact of social mobility on social integration is positive or negative. Our results do not support Sorokin’s dissociative thesis. Several indicators of social integration (i.e. social participation, subjective social importance, satisfaction with family ties) show that upwardly mobile individuals and immobile individuals with high social status are more integrated. This result suggests that social status has greater significance for integration than social mobility. In the case of other indicators of social integration, the results of socially mobile groups are similar or even better than those of the immobile groups. Consequently, our results do not show that social mobility causes integration problems in Hungary. Moreover, we argue that upward social mobility positively affects social connections, social participation and the subjective feeling of social integration as well.