$('button').hover(function(){ var $this = $(this); var $prevAll = $(this).prevAll(); var className = $this.attr("class") + "-hover"; $this.addClass(className); $prevAll.addClass(className); }, function() { var $this = $(this); var $prevAll = $(this).prevAll(); $this.removeClass("detractor-hover passive-hover promoter-hover"); $prevAll.removeClass("detractor-hover passive-hover promoter-hover"); });