Perceptions of Social Mobility and Their Impact on Attitudes Toward Universal Basic Income

Authors

• Casey S. Courtright, University of Central FloridaFollow

Streaming Media

Files

Course Code

SYA

Course Number

4300C

Faculty/Instructor

Professor Michael Loree

Faculty/Instructor Email

michael.loree@ucf.edu

About the Author

Hello! My name is Casey Courtright. As a double-major in psychology and sociology and an aspiring mental health professional, I am always interested to learn about how people think in the context of the world around them.

Thank you to Professor Loree for your feedback on this project throughout the semester. I look forward to seeing the final result when it's time for data analysis!

Abstract, Summary, or Creative Statement

Despite the fact that social mobility has been declining in recent generations, meritocratic beliefs and a desire to maintain the status quo remain high among Americans. This may be in part due to Americans' tendency to be overoptimistic about their economic prospects. Could these inaccurate beliefs about social mobility be related to a lack of support for policies that address income inequality?

The proposed study aims to explore how people perceive social mobility in the United States and the impact those perceptions have on their attitudes toward universal basic income (UBI) policies. To test this, I developed a cross-sectional, quantitative survey that measures different dimensions of perceived social mobility and support for UBI, as well as how that support might be impacted by specific changes in policy implementation.

I expect to find that perceived social mobility and support for UBI will have a negative linear relationship, i.e., people who think social mobility is low will support UBI more than those who think social mobility is high. Understanding the link between beliefs about the world and specific policy preferences is important, as it can serve as a major step toward reducing political polarization and implementing policies that are consistent with social realities.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords

social mobility; UBI; universal basic income; policy; economic policy; meritocracy

Recommended Citation

Courtright, Casey S., "Perceptions of Social Mobility and Their Impact on Attitudes Toward Universal Basic Income" (2026). High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026. 56.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/hip-2026spring/56