Social Psychology, Vol 57(1), 2026, 1-13; doi:10.1027/1864-9335/a000599
Recent research shows that people hold shared representations of urban spaces associated with specific social groups. However, work on space-focused stereotypes has emphasized ethnicity, overlooking socioeconomic status. The present study (N = 274) disentangled the effects of social class and ethnicity on evaluations of urban neighborhoods in Germany. Participants evaluated neighborhoods inhabited by German or Turkish residents whose socioeconomic status was experimentally manipulated (high vs. low). Results showed that residents’ socioeconomic status was the primary determinant of neighborhood valence, perceived centrality, affective connection, and appraisal, whereas ethnic group membership had little independent effect. These findings indicate that class-based cues play a central role in urban space perception, suggesting that effects previously attributed to ethnicity may partly reflect unaccounted socioeconomic information. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)