Expert reveals the obvious tell-tale signs that signal someone is upper or middle class

An expert in the studies of social classes has detailed the obvious signs that reveal whether someone comes from a wealthy background or not.

TikToker Dani Payne, who specialises in education and politics, took to the platform to explain to her followers how they can determine if someone in day-to-day life comes from either a middle or upper class family.

While I'm not sure how useful the tip will be, it's always nice to have a good nosey... I mean, we all love people watching don't we?

Anyway, the discussion came about after one of her followers asked her: "Can you give an example of the types of rules etc that you say would make it obvious to members of the MC [middle class] that someone comes from a WC [working class] background?"

And Payne, who hails from the UK, explained how she had actually carried out a study on the subject and conceded how she was 'absolutely fascinated' by the topic, before detailing what the question essentially means.

There's some tell-tale signs as to how to tell where someone is in terms of social class (Getty stock)

Essentially, she summed up as, 'how does the upper and elite classes signal to society' that they are part of the class they were brought up in.

Payne said: "So there are lots of different ways that someone might signal that they're part of or have come from a certain class background - and a lot of the theory around this comes from a French sociologist called Bourdieu, who came up with this concept of cultural capital.

"Which was essentially how the upper and elite classes hoard certain resources, certain experiences and certain types of knowledge that signaled to everyone else that they're part of that privileged class."

She then went on to explain how the indicators have changed over time, with a lot of people gaining college degrees and higher education, so now the onus is on what they talk about.

"So the upper and middle class needed other ways to signal that they were upper and middle class, and one of those areas is behavior." Payne continued.

Activities like skiing is an indicator (Getty stock)

"So like, how do you act? How do you talk, for example, and that's not just accent, although accent is a really big thing in the UK, but it's also, what are you talking about? Do you know what's polite conversation? Do you know it's extremely impolite to ask about money and wealth, etc? Do you have a wide vocabulary? Are you well read and well spoken?

"All of these things signal kind of allegiance to a certain certain class structure. Another is experiences and like, membership to certain, like, elite groups."

Payne detailed how activities like going to art galleries, ski holidays and other cultural things help determine your class, as well as knowing which is the best course to apply for at college, how to apply for a job and so on.

She added: "All of these things mean that you might have the exact same grades, educational background, etc, as someone who is middle or upper class, but they still have an inherent advantage, because they know all of these kind of like social rules.

"They know how to act, they know how to get heard. They know how to navigate the education and employment system, and that gives them this inherent advantage in life."