What You Have Determines What You Want to Feel: The Influence of Social Class on Ideal Affect

Ideal affect reflects the emotional states which an individual desires to experience. Although existing research has highlighted the influence of cultural values on ideal affect, few studies have explored individual factors such as social class as antecedents of ideal affect. Study 1 (N = 335) used structural equation modelling to test a mediation model, while Study 2 (N = 200) experimentally manipulated participants' subjective social class. The results revealed that upper-class individuals valued ideal high-arousal positive affect (HAP) more and ideal low-arousal positive affect (LAP) less than lower-class individuals did. These findings establish social class as a key antecedent of ideal affect and suggest that daily emotional experiences play a mediating role and have practical implications for understanding how affective biases might arise in crucial cross-class interactions.