Striving or settling: Social class origins and wage goal dynamics in the job search process.

This research examines how social class origins influence wage goals among college-educated job seekers. Drawing from the social class and job search literatures, we hypothesize that compared with their peers with upper class origins, job seekers with lower class origins (a) set lower wage goals and (b) adjust their wage goals up and down in reaction to changes in their perceived job search progress (i.e., have a stronger positive within-person relationship between perceived job search progress and wage goal). We tested these hypotheses in two studies that surveyed college-educated job seekers in China every week over 3 months. Study 1 revealed that job seekers with lower (but not upper) class origins adjusted their wage goals based on perceived job search progress. Study 2 found that job seekers with lower class origins had stronger motives for seeking employment to meet the needs and expectations of others (i.e., higher interdependent motives for employment), which in turn strengthened the within-person relationship between perceived job search progress and wage goal. In addition, family income (but not parental education) was positively related to access to resources, which in turn was positively related to the job seeker's average perceived job search progress and wage goals. Both studies found that job seekers who set higher wage goal floors (i.e., the lowest level of wage goal throughout a job search) received job offers with higher wages. These findings offer valuable insights for research and practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).