> people are most comfortable being around people like themselves<p>Inertia. This is everything. It takes effort to be around people unlike those currently around you.<p>We all have personal biases against the strata economically above us and below us. I think most of the individuals that move up economically are able to get beyond these biases for one reason or another. Otherwise, even the most hardworking individuals tend to self-sabotage when they start to feel out of place.