Despite our efforts in the experiments to shift participant mobility
beliefs, these efforts did not elicit complete accuracy in estimates of
class mobility. It is interesting to speculate about what other psychological
variables might account for the overestimates observed in the
present studies. One candidate might be individual differences in legitimacy
beliefs (Jetten, Haslam, & Barlow, 2013)—that is, individuals who
are particularly likely to believe in the American Dream, or in a just and
meritocratic world more broadly,might be particularly likely to overestimate
class mobility. Future research is necessary to test this prediction.