The Power of the American Dream: The Effect of Race, Class, Insecurity Perceptions and Neighborhood Context on Belief in the American Dream.

Income inequality is at a modern high in the US and the economic downturn known as the "Great Recession," is still fresh in many people's minds. Given these economic transformations, this study examines what factors alter belief in the American Dream in the contemporary period (2002-2012). Logistic regression models are used to estimate associations between objective and subjective class indicators, race, ethnicity, immigration status and local disadvantage on belief in the American Dream using three measures of the American Dream: 1) a self-reflective belief in upward mobility, 2) a global belief in meritocracy, and 3) a global belief in opportunity. Education is negatively associated with belief in meritocracy, but does not generally have an effect on belief in one's own upward mobility or general opportunity. Income is positively related to belief in opportunity, while being unemployed is also positively associated with belief in opportunity. Compared to whites, both Blacks and Hispanics more strongly believe in their own upward mobility chances and less strongly believe in the Dream of opportunity, but Blacks are also more pessimistic about the meritocratic American Dream. Immigrants less strongly believe in the presence of opportunity than non-immigrants. Subjective perceptions of class and position are positively related to belief in the American Dream. Finally, the disadvantage of one's residential context does not have a significant effect on belief in the Dream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]