Socialization, n Achievement, and Achievement Values

In this paper, data have been presented to illustrate the utility of looking at the relationship of fathers' career mobility and intergenerational mobility. Extending the usual consideration in intergenerational mobility studies of an origin class to include the father's career mobility may well refine the relationships observed between intergenerational mobility and such facets of social behavior as fertility, voting, and mental illness. It is my contention that consideration of the father's career at at least two points, can illuminate the role played by the family in the social stratification process. While the number of observation points along careers considered in studies of intergenerational mobility will not be directly related to the amount of insight gained into the social stratification process, the point of diminishing returns can be determined only by future research. The data and analysis presented in this paper raise more questions than they answer, but they lead to the suggestion that documentation of an origin class may be a research anachronism in a highly mobile society.