In India, meritocracy hindered by classist ideas

A new study on Indian caste system suggests that stereotypes persist that class and privilege determine intellect and success.

A meritocracy holds that if you work hard enough, you can succeed in life, regardless of race, religion, gender or social status, but UC Berkeley study suggests that, despite egalitarian efforts to downplay class as a forecaster for intelligence and achievement, many people still believe their destiny is tied to their station in life.

The study looked specifically at attitudes in India to the Hindu caste system and found that children and adults who were more influenced by caste were also more likely to believe that their own natural aptitude, academic success, and personality traits were fixed or set in stone.

The results suggest that while education, technology and new money are promoting social mobility and replacing old hierarchies in countries like India, gut feelings about how far we can transcend the circumstances of our birth and upbringing remain firmly entrenched. This mindset is particularly true of teenagers and adults, as per the study.

Lead author Mahesh Srinivasan said that this is one of the first studies to show a real link between a cultural system of social stratification and how people view their own life's possibilities.

The results indicate the need to instill in children a "growth mindset" about their intellectual abilities rather than a fixed one because people who believe that intelligence is fixed are more likely to avoid challenging problems.

The study points out that if caste is a central lens though which children view their social identity it may have a pervasive effect on their attitudes and predict not only how children view the status and achievement of members of different caste groups, but also how they view their own attributes.

Srinivasan added that these findings suggest that the culture in which a child is raised may shape wide-ranging beliefs about the nature of their own abilities, traits, and life possibilities said. They hope that by raising awareness of how cultural messages may affect individual mindsets, they can develop interventions to promote better life outcomes for individuals across socioeconomic strata.

The study is published in the journal Developmental Science.