Differential Association and the Stratification of the Urban Community

Differential association—the tendency to choose friends from within one's own occupational stratum—was found to be a social pattern more characteristic of some segments of the social structure of Detroit than of others. Within those segments, the extent of differential association appears to be reduced by social mobility, status inconsistency, and disparity between perceived and “objective” status. These relationships are suggested as partial explanations for the relative lack of social rigidity in urban stratification.