The Bases of Occupational Prestige: The Case of Dentists

Using survey data from a national sample of adults, an analysis was made of the relationship between individuals' prestige rating of dentists and several other perceived characteristics of dentists. Varying, but generally low, relationships were found with measures of the respondents' evaluation of the professional work, their perceptions of the scarcity of the required skills, their perceptions of the dentists' possession of valued characteristics, and their experience with dentists in receiving dental care. A high relationship was found with the amount of prestige accorded to other professions relative to non-professions. These findings have important methodological implications for testing theoretical explanations of the bases of the occupational prestige hierarchy and also substantive implications for the character of those explanations.