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Attitudes towards redistribution and the interplay between perceptions and beliefs about inequality
Author(s) -
GarcíaSánchez Efraín,
Osborne Danny,
Willis Guillermo B.,
RodríguezBailón Rosa
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1111/bjso.12326
Subject(s) - redistribution (election) , inequality , meritocracy , economic inequality , social psychology , perception , psychology , ideology , demographic economics , system justification , economics , politics , political science , mathematical analysis , mathematics , neuroscience , law , market economy
Although economic inequality has increased over the last few decades, support for redistributive policies is not widely accepted by the public. In this paper, we examine whether attitudes towards redistribution are a product of both perceptions of, and beliefs about, inequality. Specifically, we argue that the association between perceived inequality and support for redistribution varies by beliefs that justify inequality. We investigated this hypothesis in a cross‐cultural/country sample ( N = 56,021 from 41 countries) using two different operationalizations of support for redistribution and two distinct beliefs that justify inequality. As hypothesized, the perceived size of the income gap correlated positively with believing that it is the government's responsibility to reduce inequality among those who rejected beliefs that justify inequality, whereas there was no association for those who endorsed these beliefs. Similarly, perceived economic inequality correlated positively with support for progressive taxation, but this association was weaker among those who endorsed meritocratic and equal opportunity beliefs. Together, these results demonstrate that ideologies influence the relationship between perceived inequality and attitudes towards redistribution, and that support for redistribution varies by how the policy is framed.