**1. Introduction**

Society consists of various types of people across many strata or classes, who have a variety of incomes, earnings, and functions. Different peoples have different income levels and income sources (and other determinant variables) that customize an individual's socioeconomic level in society; moreover, this socioeconomic term formulates or influences one's family, family members, and other related things. Socioeconomic status (SES) deeply influences an individual's life, such as a student's academic life being impacted by the SES (of the family).

Socioeconomic status is a measuring term, including two variables: social condition and economic condition. Social condition is established by the social situation, and financial condition is associated with the money or economy a person has. Socioeconomic status is measured with the same pointers by different sociologists, educationists, and psychologists [1]. Socioeconomic status refers to an individual's position within a classified social structure. It depends on a combination of variables, with occupation, education, income, wealth, and so on. Sociologists ever so often use socioeconomic status as a means of predicting behavior.

Moreover, the university has a large number of students from every social and economic class and even the remote regions of Bangladesh. Understanding the extent of past and present industrialization, urbanization, and socialization of human resources, for example, could help to explain the presence and contemporary value of the process of human development and empowerment and also to know what constraints they still face from various socioeconomic and political burdens that may promote their removal or modification. According to Parson, Stephanie, and Deborah [2], "Socioeconomic Status (SES) is the term used to illustrate people's linked condition in the society in terms of family income, power (political), educational contextual, and working status" [2].

Socioeconomic factors affect the performance of students and influence their personal life and mental health too. It can be projected that this study will help many partners, governments, social researchers, and different expert groups get a sketchknowledge of the process of the current impact of socioeconomic status. It will be helpful to reformat and update the academic curriculum, action planning, and administrative decisions of the universities of Bangladesh. The study result confirms that students with better grades come from better socioeconomic levels, receive more support from their parents, and have previously attended preschool. So, the socioeconomic level of the student governs their academic performance, mental stress, and health. It is extensively recognized that if learners are to maximize their potential from schooling, they will need the full support of their families. Efforts to improve familial contribution to education occupy governments, administrators, instructors, and family organizations all over the world. The socioeconomic status of a student is the most important factor to improve educational or academic performance, and it helps to support one's mental life too. Moreover, it can be a broad factor for most students to overcome or build a career properly with full support. This analytical study focuses on the basic need for SES on the student's academic performance and mental health and other related things or factors of the student's life. On the other hand, it also reveals that the poor-background students also overcome the fear or condition of SES through their own will and hard work, focusing on their studies and improving their academic studies, not issuing the SES. Socioeconomic status varies from person to person and affects all the spheres of life, such as education, health, socialization, proper psychological development, future progression, and so on. Based on this socioeconomic status, individuals face many difficulties and unequal treatment in getting various opportunities. In this study, a student's socioeconomic status, mental stress (due to SES), academic performance, and other related correlations have been explained.

#### **1.1 The objective of the study**

Socioeconomic status is the totality of the individual social, economic, and other overall conditions. It may vary from person to person based on various criteria and

*Mental Stress, Socioeconomic Status, and Academic Performance: A Critical Analysis among… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109795*

factors. Socioeconomic status is thus a measure of students' access to family resources (financial capital, social capital, cultural capital, and human capital) and the social position of the student's family/household.<sup>1</sup> This study will be conducted with some major objectives as follows:


#### **1.2 Research question**

This study included some specific research questions, which were served to the respondents, and tried to focus the answers to the analysis and discussion part of the study, to collect accurate results on some demanding areas.


### **2. Theoretical framework of the study**

The theoretical work of this study has highlighted that family SES influences a student's educational outcomes, examined instruments through which family SES is related to their success, and acknowledged probable ways behind this connection, one of which practices three forms of capital: economic, cultural, and social assets [3]. Socioeconomic status (SES) affects an individual's overall life in many ways or their various strata (steps) of life. This analytical research study will correlate these factors with some perspectives/theories. These theories are as follows, as the summary (**Figure 1**).

According to the **functionalist perspectives**, there are several functions of socioeconomic status in the social stratification system. In the structural formation of society, socioeconomic status creates some strata or classes among the group of people, and it is created based on some factors or criteria, such as occupation, economic

<sup>1</sup> https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/f 7986824-en/index.html%3FitemId%3D/content/component/f7986824-en&ved=2ahUKEwjR1ou9zvv5Ah UrS2wGHVU\_DQ4QFnoECAYQBQ&usg=AOvVaw19aGM53DHrVU86rPIuQE7a

**Figure 1.**

*A summary of the theoretical framework on socioeconomic status and its effects.*

condition, high-lower prestige level, power, domination, and so on. This socioeconomic status has a deep function for the balance of society, and to run its organization, it needs many types of persons with different intelligence; this is organized by the formation of the socioeconomic status of an individual. There are some strata or steps of the group and the class created on the basis of the socioeconomic status of a person, and finally, in this way, society is run. Completing the overall functions of society needs the socioeconomic status of individuals and also to run a society smoothly.

Additionally, from the **conflict perspective**, there have been several dysfunctions that occur due to socioeconomic status and its negative effects on a person's life. For example, classes are created for the SES system in society; people face many problems, discrimination, unequal treatment, and difficulties in their whole life, and these trouble them very much, as a poor-class father's children are sometimes not allowed in the high-class school, only because of having that poor identity. These types of incidents create discrimination and dysfunction in society. Sometimes, many bad events such as conflict among those classes occur due to dysfunction. Negative perspective like discrimination and dysfunction creates a conflicting nature among the societal classes or strata. These negative things, discrimination, dysfunction, class differences, and so on create a conflict-type mentality among university students also. This perspective is from the conflict theorists, and they talk about class conflict, class distinctiveness, and also class inequality.

Since studies report an association between socioeconomic status and student progress, major theoretical frameworks have been established to clarify this collaboration; it is important to note that both theories highlight family's economic assets or income [4]. According to an additional perspective—the **family stress model** (FSM)—the connection between parents and students is impacted by the economic difficulties that the family is experiencing [5]. The pressure that comes with the economic situation affects the progress of students since it impacts the excellence of caregiving [6]. Yet socioeconomic status affects educational properties, backgrounds, prospects, and the support that parents offer. Possibly, the care of parents and a home-based atmosphere govern the development of the brain sections involved in decision-making function and intellectual and behavioral development [7]. Conclusively, in explaining the influence of SES differences in development, these perspectives are deeply related to this analytical study [4, 8], and current research develops these theories, explaining the association with the socioeconomic status.

*Mental Stress, Socioeconomic Status, and Academic Performance: A Critical Analysis among… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109795*
