Class Position and Class Imagery in Iceland, 2009-2019

Classic theories hold that a person’s class position shapes their view of the class structure (class imagery). Furthermore, a previous study showed that Icelanders saw the Icelandic class system “flatten” (i.e., become more egalitarian) in the immediate aftermath of the 2008 economic collapse in 2008, alongside rapidly decreasing income inequality. The aim of this study is to analyze 1) the effect of objective and subjective class position on class imagery in Iceland and 2) changes between 2009 and 2019, but income inequality remained low by international comparison during the study period. The data comes from the International Social Survey Program fielded in Iceland in 2009 and 2019 (N=2174). Binomial logistic regression shows that subjective and objective class status as well as the class indicators (education and household income) are positively correlated with class imagery. Specifically, those of higher class positions have significantly higher odds of seeing Iceland’s class imagery as egalitarian than those positioned lower in the class structure. Finally, the results indicate that Icelanders saw the class structure flattening out even more over the study period.