The importance of Social classes

Based on social class people have been categorized into various classifications. The most common model of grouping is; upper, middle and lower class. The upper class comprises of people with the highest social status and are considered to be wealthiest and with greater power and influence. The middle class on the other hand is made up of individuals who are considered next in rank in terms of wealth and power after the upper class. The lower class is made up of people who are poor and with no political influence. In addition, it’s also important in encouraging hard work through competition. The assignment of roles and responsibilities in the society is based on social class. Each social class has its own customs and practices that are apparent among the members of that particular social class.

These distinctive practices are in preparation of the members of a particular social class to undertake specific functions in the society. For instance, occupational roles are assigned on basis of social class. This helps the members to recognize and appreciate the necessity of members in other social classes (Austen,26-34). Secondly, social class is important in revealing group differences and defining conventional morality. Conventional morality refers to what the society views and accepts to be right or wrong. Different social classes differ in several ways. Differences are exhibited in terms of behavior, feelings, etiquette and even judgements. Individuals from the upper social class may end up being in the middle or the lower social class. The opposite is also true. Social classes help in competition and hard work due to several reason.

Firstly, an individual in the upper social class would want to maintain that standard for the fear of moving to the lower social classes. To achieve this, the individual will have to work hard, create wealth in order to be at par with the standards maintained by the other members of the upper social class. However, in most cases, it happens that individuals do not remain in a particular social class forever but may move to other social classes overtime. The existence of social classes has its own advantages and disadvantages. In order to ensure that social classes do not lead to more harm than good, there should be a peaceful coexistence among all the social classes. Discrimination of any kind should be highly discouraged.