Open AccessThe Construct of Subjective Economic Inequality
Author(s) -
Anita Schmalor,
Steven Heine
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
social psychological and personality science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.276
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1948-5514
pISSN - 1948-5506
DOI - 10.1177/1948550621996867
Subject(s) - inequality , economic inequality , social inequality , income inequality metrics , construct (python library) , sample (material) , economics , demographic economics , log sum inequality , econometrics , mathematics , computer science , programming language , mathematical analysis , chemistry , chromatography
Economic inequality has been associated with a host of social ills, but most research has focused on objective measures of inequality. We argue that economic inequality also has a subjective component, and understanding the effects of economic inequality will be deepened by considering the ways that people perceive inequality. In an American sample ( N = 1,014), we find that some of the key variables that past research has found to correlate with objective inequality also correlate with a subjective measure of inequality. Across six countries ( N = 683), we find that the relationship between subjective inequality and different psychological variables varies by country. Subjective inequality shows only modest correlations with objective inequality and varies by sociodemographic background.