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Zhao Q, Ma R, Liu Z, Wang T, Sun X, van Prooijen JW, Dong M, Yuan Y. Why do we never have enough time? Economic inequality fuels the perception of time poverty by aggravating status anxiety. BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2024; 63:614-636. [PMID: 37933472 DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 10/02/2023] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 11/08/2023]
Abstract
People in many societies report that they do not have enough time. What makes people feel so rushed? We propose that economic inequality leads to perceived time poverty by increasing status anxiety. Five studies examined this line of reasoning. Study 1 (N = 230) found a positive correlation between economic inequality and perceived time poverty. Study 2 (N = 194) manipulated economic inequality to test the causal link between economic inequality and perceived time poverty. The results showed that people perceived more time poverty in the high (vs. low) economic inequality condition. Study 3 (N = 381) supported the mediating role of status anxiety in the relationship between economic inequality and perceived time poverty using a questionnaire survey. Study 4 (pre-registered; N = 283) manipulated economic inequality in an ecological valid way and yielded further support for the hypotheses. In pre-registered Study 5 (N = 233), a blockage manipulation design was employed to test the mediating effect of status anxiety as a function of economic inequality, which provided causal evidence for the proposed mediator. Our findings suggest that economic inequality serves as a structural societal factor that fuels people's perception of time poverty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Zhao
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Rongzi Ma
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Zhenzhen Liu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Tianxin Wang
- Department of Psychology, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Xiaomin Sun
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Jan-Willem van Prooijen
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- The Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Mengxi Dong
- Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Yue Yuan
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
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2
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Cheng L, Wang X, Jetten J, Klebl C, Li Z, Wang F. Subjective economic inequality evokes interpersonal objectification. BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2024. [PMID: 38520243 DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2023] [Revised: 03/06/2024] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
Interpersonal objectification, treating people as tools and neglecting their essential humanness, is a pervasive and enduring phenomenon. Across five studies (N = 1183), we examined whether subjective economic inequality increases objectification through a calculative mindset. Study 1 revealed that the perceptions of economic inequality at the national level and in daily life were positively associated with objectification. Studies 2 and 3 demonstrated a causal relationship between subjective economic inequality and objectification in a fictitious organization and society, respectively. Moreover, the effect was mediated by a calculative mindset (Studies 3-4). In addition, lowering a calculative mindset weakened the effect of subjective inequality on objectification (Study 4). Finally, increased objectification due to subjective inequality further decreased prosociality and enhanced exploitative intentions (Study 5). Taken together, our findings suggest that subjective economic inequality increases objectification, which further causes adverse interpersonal interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Cheng
- School of Psychology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, China
| | - Xijing Wang
- College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong
| | - Jolanda Jetten
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Christoph Klebl
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Zifei Li
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Fang Wang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
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3
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Schmalor A, Schroeder AK, Heine SJ. When are people more open to cheating? Economic inequality makes people expect more everyday unethical behavior. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0294124. [PMID: 38381751 PMCID: PMC10880980 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0294124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Economic inequality has been found to be associated with increased unethical behavior and an increased acceptance of unethical behavior. In this paper we explored whether higher amounts of perceived inequality lead to an increase in the expectation of unethical behavior. We tested whether people would say that they themselves would engage in more unethical behavior in a context of high compared to low inequality. We find evidence for this hypothesis in 3 of 4 studies (n = 3,038). An internal meta-analysis shows a small but significant effect. Such increased expectations that oneself will behave unethically likely has consequences for societal trust and functioning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Schmalor
- University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | | | - Steven J. Heine
- University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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4
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Du H, Götz FM, King RB, Rentfrow PJ. The psychological imprint of inequality: Economic inequality shapes achievement and power values in human life. J Pers 2024; 92:222-242. [PMID: 35866366 DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2021] [Revised: 06/13/2022] [Accepted: 07/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This research investigates how economic inequality shapes basic human values across three cross-national, cross-regional, and longitudinal studies (Ntotal = 219,697). METHODS Study 1 examined the relationship between objective economic inequality and values across 77 societies from all five continents (n = 170,525). Study 2 examined the relationship between objective economic inequality and values across 51 regions in the United States (n = 48,559). Study 3 used a two-year longitudinal design to examine the relationship between perceived economic inequality and values (n = 613). RESULTS Results from multilevel modeling and longitudinal analysis suggested that people who lived in areas with higher economic inequality and who perceived higher economic inequality were more likely to endorse achievement and power values. Moreover, people who perceived higher economic inequality were less likely to endorse benevolence values. These effects were robust in within-country tests (Studies 2 and 3) but not in the cross-country tests (Study 1) when accounting for sociodemographic characteristics. CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that economic inequality may act as an antecedent of self-enhancement values, particularly within countries. In a world of rising economic inequality, this may over time lead to an overemphasis on achievement and power which have been shown to erode social cohesion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongfei Du
- Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, China
| | - Friedrich M Götz
- Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Ronnel B King
- Faculty of Education, Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong SAR
| | - Peter J Rentfrow
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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5
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Wang Y, Zuo S, Wang F. Residential mobility and psychological transformation in China: From relational to institutional trust. Psych J 2024; 13:90-101. [PMID: 37905903 PMCID: PMC10917097 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.693] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
As one of the important drivers of social change in China, residential mobility has caused a dramatic change in the interpersonal environment, but it remained little known how residential mobility would influence the basis of interpersonal interaction-trust. The present research aimed to explore the effect of residential mobility on two kinds of trust, relational trust and institutional trust, by two studies. Study 1 explored the correlational relationship between regional residential mobility and two kinds of trust using data from the China General Social Survey 2010 and the Sixth National Population Census of China, and analyzed the data using hierarchical linear modeling. Study 2 switched to the individual level and investigated the causal relationship between individual residential mobility and two kinds of trust in the laboratory using the writing task for priming residential mobility and the situational selection task for trust. Study 1 found that individuals exhibited lower relational trust when they lived in a region of higher residential mobility. For institutional trust, the indicator about the permission to register household in inflow cities could significantly positively predict this. Study 2 found that the primed mindset of high (vs. low) residential mobility reduces relational trust and enhances institutional trust. In conclusion, the present research revealed that residential mobility promotes the transformation of individuals' trust mode from relational to institutional trust in social life, thus expanding the research field of residential mobility as a socioecological factor and extended the understanding of psychological transformation under the background of social change in China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yachao Wang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of PsychologyBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
- Tiangong UniversityTianjinChina
| | - Shijiang Zuo
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of PsychologyBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
| | - Fang Wang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of PsychologyBeijing Normal UniversityBeijingChina
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6
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Davidai S. Economic Inequality Fosters the Belief That Success Is Zero-Sum. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY BULLETIN 2023:1461672231206428. [PMID: 37965735 DOI: 10.1177/01461672231206428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2023]
Abstract
Ten studies (N = 3,628; including five pre-registered), using correlational and experimental methods and employing various measures and manipulations, reveal that perceived economic inequality fosters zero-sum beliefs about economic success-the belief that one person's gains are inevitably offset by others' losses. As the gap between the rich and the poor expands, American participants increasingly believed that one can only get richer at others' expense. Moreover, perceptions of economic inequality fostered zero-sum beliefs even when the distribution of resources was not strictly zero-sum and did so beyond the effect of various demographics variables (household income, education, subjective socioeconomic status) and individual differences (political ideology, social dominance orientation, interpersonal trust). Finally, I find that zero-sum beliefs account for the effect of inequality on people's view of the world as unjust. The article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of zero-sum beliefs about economic success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shai Davidai
- Columbia University in the City of New York, USA
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7
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Cheon BK, Low X, Wijaya DJ, Lee A. Perceived inequality in society may not motivate increased food intake in the absence of personal socioeconomic disadvantage. BMC Public Health 2023; 23:1237. [PMID: 37365621 PMCID: PMC10294481 DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-16138-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2022] [Accepted: 06/16/2023] [Indexed: 06/28/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Greater levels of socioeconomic inequality across societies have been associated with higher rates of obesity and cardiometabolic disease. While these relationships could be attributed to poorer quality of health services and lower access to healthier lifestyles among disadvantaged groups in societies with greater economic inequality, this explanation does not account for those who experience relative economic security in such unequal societies (e.g., the middle and upper classes). Here, we tested whether perceptions of greater disparities between social classes in one's society (i.e., perceived societal inequality) may promote eating behaviors that risk excess energy intake. METHODS In two studies, participants completed an experimental manipulation that situated them as middle class within a hypothetical society that was presented to have either large disparities in socioeconomic resources between classes (high inequality condition) or low disparities (low inequality condition), while keeping the participants' objective socioeconomic standing constant across conditions. In Study 1 (pre-registered), participants (n = 167) completed the perceived societal inequality manipulation before a computerized food portion selection task to measure desired portion sizes for a variety of foods. Study 2 (n = 154) involved a similar design as Study 1, but with inclusion of a neutral control condition (no awareness of class disparities) followed by ad libitum consumption of potato chips. RESULTS While the high inequality condition successfully elicited perceptions of one's society as having greater socioeconomic inequalities between classes, it did not generate consistent feelings of personal socioeconomic disadvantage. Across both studies, we observed no differences between conditions in average selected portion sizes or actual energy intake. CONCLUSIONS Taken together with prior research on the effects of subjective socioeconomic disadvantage on increased energy intake, these findings suggest that perceptions of inequality in one's society may be insufficient to stimulate heightened energy intake in the absence of personal socioeconomic disadvantage or inadequacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bobby K Cheon
- Social and Behavioral Sciences Branch, Division of Intramural Population Health Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, 6710B Rockledge Dr., Room 3166, Bethesda, MD, 20817, USA.
| | - Xenia Low
- School of Social Sciences (Psychology), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Darren Jeffian Wijaya
- School of Social Sciences (Psychology), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Albert Lee
- School of Social Sciences (Psychology), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
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8
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Moreno-Bella E, Kulich C, Willis GB, Moya M. Wage (in)equality matters: the effect of organizational economic inequality on others' and self-ascriptions. THE JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2023:1-19. [PMID: 37094182 DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2023.2192398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/26/2023]
Abstract
Economic inequality has consequences at the social-psychological level, such as in the way people make inferences about their environment and other people. In the present two preregistered studies, we used a paradigm of an organizational setting to manipulate economic inequality and measured ascriptions of agentic versus communal traits to employees and the self. In Study 1 (N = 187), participants attributed more agency than communion to a middle-status employee, and more communion than agency when economic equality was salient. In Study 2 (N = 198) this finding was replicated. Further, this inequality-agency association was explained by perceptions of competitive employee relationships. Results, moreover, suggested that participants mainly attributed more communion than agency to themselves in the equality condition. We conclude that agency and communion ascriptions may be functional and thus inform about the expectations people have on the nature of social relationships in the face of economic inequality.
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9
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Velandia-Morales A, Rodríguez-Bailón R, Martínez R. Normative effect of economic inequality: empirical evidence about conspicuous consumption ( Efecto normativo de la desigualdad económica: evidencias empíricas sobre el consumo conspicuo). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2023. [DOI: 10.1080/02134748.2023.2181611] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/08/2023]
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10
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Sánchez-Rodríguez Á, Rodríguez-Bailón R, Willis GB. The economic inequality as normative information model (EINIM). EUROPEAN REVIEW OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2023. [DOI: 10.1080/10463283.2022.2160555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Guillermo B. Willis
- Centro de Investigación Mente Cerebro y Comportamiento (CIMCYC), Granada, Spain
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11
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Sommet N, Elliot AJ. Opposing effects of income inequality on health: The role of perceived competitiveness and avoidance/approach motivation. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2884] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Sommet
- LIVES Centre University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
| | - Andrew J. Elliot
- Department of Psychology University of Rochester Rochester NY USA
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12
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Moreno-Bella E, Kulich C, Willis GB, Moya M. What about diversity? The effect of organizational economic inequality on the perceived presence of women and ethnic minority groups. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0271356. [PMID: 35976867 PMCID: PMC9384987 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Economic inequality shapes the degree to which people and different social groups are perceived in stereotypical ways. Our research sought to investigate the impact of the perception of economic inequality in an organizational setting on expectations of social diversity in the organization’s workforce, across the dimensions of gender and ethnicity. Combining data from previous experiments, we first explored in one set of studies (Studies 1a and 1b; N = 378) whether the degree of economic inequality in a fictitious organization affected participants’ expectations of the representation of minority vs. majority group employees. We found that when we presented an organization with unequal (vs. equal) distribution of economic wealth amongst its employees to study participants, they expected the presence of men and White majority individuals to be larger than the presence of women and ethnic minorities. Second, we tested our hypotheses and replicated these initial effects in a pre-registered study (Study 2: N = 449). Moreover, we explored the potential mediating role of perceived diversity climate, that is, the perception that the organization promotes and deals well with demographic diversity. Findings revealed that an organizational setting that distributed resources unequally (vs. equally) was associated with a more adverse diversity climate, which, in turn, correlated with expectations of a lower presence of minority group employees in the organization. We concluded that economic inequality creates a context that modulates perceptions of a climate of social exclusion which likely affects the possibilities for members of disadvantaged groups to participate and develop in organizations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Moreno-Bella
- Department of Psychology, University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain
- Mind, Brain and Behaviour Research Centre (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Clara Kulich
- Department of Psychology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Guillermo B. Willis
- Mind, Brain and Behaviour Research Centre (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Miguel Moya
- Mind, Brain and Behaviour Research Centre (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
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13
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Caballero A, Fernández I, Aguilar P, Carrera P. The links among relative financial scarcity, thinking style, fatalism, and well-being. Psych J 2022; 11:885-894. [PMID: 35817534 PMCID: PMC10084287 DOI: 10.1002/pchj.566] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2022] [Accepted: 04/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
In the present research, we examined the links among relative financial scarcity, thinking style, fatalism, and well-being and their roles in predicting protective behaviors against COVID-19. Study 1 (N = 120) revealed that after an experimental manipulation to induce the perception of relative financial scarcity (versus financial abundance), people who perceived higher relative financial scarcity changed their thinking style to a more concrete mindset. In Study 2 (N = 873), the relative financial abundance-scarcity situation was measured, and the results showed that the greater the perceived relative financial scarcity was, the more concrete the mindset and the lower the sense of well-being. Importantly, we found that individuals who felt poorer but maintained an abstract thinking style reported higher well-being. Study 3 (N = 501) examined the influence of a concrete thinking style in people who perceived that their economic situation had worsened with the pandemic. The results showed that when this vulnerable population presented a more concrete mindset, they reported lower well-being, higher fatalism, and lower protective behavior against COVID-19. Thus, maintaining an abstract mindset promotes higher well-being, lower fatalism, and greater protective behaviors against COVID-19, even under economic difficulties. Because thinking style can be modified, our results encourage the development of new social intervention programs to promote an abstract mindset when people face important challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amparo Caballero
- Department of Social Psychology and Methodology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Itziar Fernández
- Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, National University of Distance Education, Madrid, Spain
| | - Pilar Aguilar
- Department of Psychology, Loyola Andalucia University, Seville, Spain
| | - Pilar Carrera
- Department of Social Psychology and Methodology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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14
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Moreno-Bella E, Willis GB, Quiroga-Garza A, Moya M. Economic inequality shapes the agency–communion content of gender stereotypes. GROUP PROCESSES & INTERGROUP RELATIONS 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/13684302221095338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Economic inequality is a main issue in current societies, and it affects people’s psychological processes. In this research, we propose that perceived economic inequality might affect how people perceive men and women. In two experiments carried out in Spain ( N = 170) and Mexico ( N = 215), we tested whether high (vs. low) economic inequality leads to changes in the perceived agency and communion of both men and women. Our findings suggest that when economic inequality is high (vs. low), the communal content in social perceptions of both men and women decreases. Specifically, under high (vs. low) inequality, the difference in agency and communion ascribed to a man becomes greater (i.e., men are perceived as even more agentic than communal), whereas this difference becomes smaller for women (i.e., women are still perceived as more communal than agentic, but this difference is smaller). We discuss these findings’ implications regarding the psychosocial effects of economic inequality.
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15
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Sánchez‐Rodríguez Á, Moreno‐Bella E. Are you interested in economic inequality? Depends on where you live. ASIAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/ajsp.12458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Eva Moreno‐Bella
- Department of Social Psychology University of Granada Granada Spain
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16
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Kafetsios K. Self-construal and Insecure Attachment Variation and Co-variation During a Period of Economic Crisis. JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1177/00220221211060458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Changes in socioeconomic conditions can affect how people understand themselves. The present analyses tested hypotheses on individuals’ self-construal and insecure attachment variation and co-variation during a period of severe and prolonged economic downturn in Greece, a typically more collectivist culture. Adult attachment and self-construal were surveyed in 15 independent samples of young adults collected consecutively between 2004 and 2016. Significantly lower independence, but not higher interdependence, was observed in recent crisis-stricken years of higher unemployment compared to earlier (pre-crisis) years. Participants also reported higher insecure attachment, particularly higher anxious attachment in recent years. However, it were temporal changes in avoidance that were associated with a greater decline in independent self-construal during the time period studied. Avoidance also preceded temporal variability in independent self-construal during this period. The results highlight links between socioeconomic conditions and individual-level variation in cultural understandings of the self and insecure attachment, and point to socio-cognitive processes that may explain interrelationships between two constructs that partly lie at different levels of understanding the self.
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Affiliation(s)
- Konstantinos Kafetsios
- School of Fine Arts, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
- Katedra Psychologie, Palacký University in Olomouc, Czechia
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17
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Krys K, Vignoles VL, de Almeida I, Uchida Y. Outside the "Cultural Binary": Understanding Why Latin American Collectivist Societies Foster Independent Selves. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2022; 17:1166-1187. [PMID: 35133909 PMCID: PMC9274794 DOI: 10.1177/17456916211029632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Cultural psychologists often treat binary contrasts of West versus East, individualism versus collectivism, and independent versus interdependent self-construal as interchangeable, thus assuming that collectivist societies promote interdependent rather than independent models of selfhood. At odds with this assumption, existing data indicate that Latin American societies emphasize collectivist values at least as strongly as Confucian East Asian societies, but they emphasize most forms of independent self-construal at least as strongly as Western societies. We argue that these seemingly “anomalous” findings can be explained by societal differences in modes of subsistence (herding vs. rice farming), colonial histories (frontier settlement), cultural heterogeneity, religious heritage, and societal organization (relational mobility, loose norms, honor logic) and that they cohere with other indices of contemporary psychological culture. We conclude that the common view linking collectivist values with interdependent self-construal needs revision. Global cultures are diverse, and researchers should pay more attention to societies beyond “the West” and East Asia. Our contribution concurrently illustrates the value of learning from unexpected results and the crucial importance of exploratory research in psychological science.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kuba Krys
- Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences.,Kokoro Research Center, Kyoto University
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18
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Velandia-Morales A, Rodríguez-Bailón R, Martínez R. Economic Inequality Increases the Preference for Status Consumption. Front Psychol 2022; 12:809101. [PMID: 35069397 PMCID: PMC8777289 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.809101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 12/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Prior research has shown the relationship between objective economic inequality and searching for positional goods. It also investigated the relationship between social class and low income with conspicuous consumption. However, the causal relationship between economic inequality (the difference in wealth between individuals and groups living in a shared context and consumer behavior) has been less explored. Furthermore, there are also few studies looking for the psychological mechanisms that underlie these effects. The current research’s main goal is to analyze the consequences of perceived economic inequality (PEI) on conspicuous and status consumption and the possible psychological mechanisms that could explain its effects. Furthermore, the current research aims to examine whether there is a causal relationship between PEI and materialism preferences and attitudes toward indebtedness. This work includes two preregister experimental studies. In the Study 1 (n = 252), we manipulated PEI and its legitimacy through a 2 (high vs. low inequality) × 2 (Illegitimate vs. legitimate) between-participants experiment. Results showed a main effect of PEI on status consumption, status seeking, status anxiety, materialism, and attitude toward indebtedness. No interaction effect between legitimacy and inequality was found. In the Study 2 (n = 301), we manipulated the PEI through the Bimboola Paradigm. We replicated the effect of PEI on status consumption, status seeking, and materialism and found that status seeking mediated the relationship between PEI and status and conspicuous consumption. Economic inequality affects consumer behavior and favors consumption preferences for products that provide desirable symbolic values associated with status. These results could have important implications in the interpersonal and intergroup processes, including those related to consumption and purchase.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Velandia-Morales
- Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Rosa Rodríguez-Bailón
- Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Rocío Martínez
- Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
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19
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Castillo JC, García-Castro JD, Venegas M. Perception of economic inequality: concepts, associated factors and prospects of a burgeoning research agenda (Percepción de desigualdad económica: conceptos, factores asociados y proyecciones de una agenda creciente de investigación). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/02134748.2021.2009275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Juan-Diego García-Castro
- Centro de Estudios de Conflicto y Cohesión Social (COES)
- Universidad de Costa Rica, Sede de Occidente
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Abstract
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.
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21
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Schmalor A, Heine SJ. Subjective Economic Inequality Decreases Emotional Intelligence, Especially for People of High Social Class. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PERSONALITY SCIENCE 2021; 13:608-617. [PMID: 35251492 PMCID: PMC8892066 DOI: 10.1177/19485506211024024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Across five studies (three preregistered; N = 2,481), we investigated two effects as follows: (1) Is higher subjective economic inequality associated with a decreased ability to accurately identify emotions (emotional intelligence)? When inequality is high, people are less focused on others and may thus be less motivated to correctly identify their emotions. (2) Is this main effect of subjective inequality qualified by an interaction with socioeconomic status (SES)? Past research suggests that high SES leads to lower emotional intelligence because people of higher SES are less dependent on others and thus less motivated to identify their emotions. When perceiving higher inequality, high SES individuals should feel even more self-reliant, thereby exacerbating the difference in emotional intelligence between people of low and high SES. We provide empirical support in three out of five studies for the first and in four out of five studies for the second hypothesis. An internal meta-analysis supported both hypotheses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Schmalor
- The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Steven J. Heine
- The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
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22
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Du H, King RB. What predicts perceived economic inequality? The roles of actual inequality, system justification, and fairness considerations. BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 61:19-36. [PMID: 34057748 DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12468] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2020] [Revised: 05/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Past studies have mostly focused on investigating actual economic inequality with less work devoted to understanding perceived economic inequality and its antecedents. However, numerous studies have shown that perceived inequality is a strong predictor of psychological, political, and social outcomes and hence is an important outcome in and of itself. This paper aims to identify the socioecological (i.e., actual inequality) and psychological (legitimation and fairness considerations) antecedents of perceived economic inequality. We hypothesized that individuals who legitimized income inequality would perceive less inequality, whereas individuals who experienced unfairness engendered by income inequality would perceive more inequality. We utilized a nationally representative sample in China (N = 33,600 respondents nested within 25 provinces) and conducted multilevel longitudinal analyses to test our hypotheses. In line with our predictions, we found that legitimation of inequality was associated with less perceived inequality six years later, whereas unfairness was associated with more perceived inequality six years later. In addition, we found that in more unequal areas, people perceived less income inequality. These longitudinal effects were robust when controlling for prior years of perceived inequality, economic development, and sociodemographic factors. Findings have implications for system justification and economic inequality theories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongfei Du
- Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, China
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23
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Melita D, Willis GB, Rodríguez-Bailón R. Economic Inequality Increases Status Anxiety Through Perceived Contextual Competitiveness. Front Psychol 2021; 12:637365. [PMID: 34108908 PMCID: PMC8182636 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.637365] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2020] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Status anxiety, the constant concern about individuals’ position on the social ladder, negatively affects social cohesion, health, and wellbeing (e.g., chronic stress). Given previous findings showing that status anxiety is associated with economic inequality, we aimed in this research to test this association experimentally. A cross-sectional study (Study 1) was run in order to discard confounding effects of the relationship between perceived economic inequality (PEI) and status anxiety, and to explore the mediating role of a competitive climate (N = 297). Then we predicted that people assigned to a condition of high inequality would perceive more status anxiety in their social context, and they would themselves report higher status anxiety. Thus, in an experimental study (Study 2) PEI was manipulated (N = 200). In Study 1, PEI uniquely predicted status anxiety, and perceived competitiveness mediated the relationship. In Study 2 PEI increased perceived contextual status anxiety, a specific form of perceived competitiveness based on socioeconomic status (SES). Moreover, preliminary evidence of an indirect effect was found from PEI to personal status anxiety, through (higher) perceived contextual status anxiety. These preliminary findings provide experimental evidence for the effects of economic inequality on status anxiety and the mechanism involved. Economic inequality makes people feel that they live in a society where they are constantly concerned and competing with each other for their SES. These results could have important implications as health and wellbeing could be promoted by reducing economic inequalities and the competitive and materialistic environments of our societies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Davide Melita
- Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Guillermo B Willis
- Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - Rosa Rodríguez-Bailón
- Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Granada, Spain
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24
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Beware of the ‘Bad Guys’: Economic Inequality, Perceived Competition, and Social Vigilance. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.5334/irsp.497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
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Sánchez-Rodríguez Á, Rodríguez-Bailón R, Willis GB. Economic inequality affects perceived normative values. GROUP PROCESSES & INTERGROUP RELATIONS 2020. [DOI: 10.1177/1368430220968141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The degree of economic inequality may lead to different environments where people develop motives and behaviours that lend them higher chances of survival. However, the specific features attributed to an environment with a particular level of economic inequality have received little research attention. In this research, we explored how perceived economic inequality may influence the values inferred as normative in society. Results from three studies, one correlational and two experimental, showed that perceived normative values change according to the degree of perceived economic inequality in a given context: higher levels of perceived economic inequality are related to normative self-enhancement values, whereas lower levels of perceived economic inequality are related to normative self-transcendence values. These results are discussed in terms of how information on economic inequality is used to build a general perception of the normative climate in society and, accordingly, of the values that would best guide behaviours.
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Rodríguez-Bailón R. Inequality viewed through the mirror of COVID-19 (La desigualdad ante el espejo del COVID-19). INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/02134748.2020.1796298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Cheng L, Zhou X, Wang F, Hao M. The greater the economic inequality, the later people have children: The association between economic inequality and reproductive timing. Scand J Psychol 2020; 61:450-459. [PMID: 32012300 DOI: 10.1111/sjop.12612] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2019] [Accepted: 12/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Economic inequality is associated with a series of social outcomes, including health, social trust, and crime rates. However, little is known about the role of economic inequality as a characteristic of the socioecological environment in individuals' reproductive behavior. According to embodied capital theory, this research explored how individuals calibrate their reproductive timing to maximize payoffs to investment in embodied capital in an environment of high economic inequality. Five studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that higher economic inequality leads people to delay reproduction. Across nations (Study 1), we found that the average reproductive age is higher in nations with greater economic inequality. Study 2 found that people living in more economically unequal U.S. states tend to marry later. In Study 3, individuals who perceived higher levels of inequality in a given society planned to have their children later. Finally, in Study 4, the priming of high inequality led to a greater preference for delaying reproduction, which represented a desire to pursue one's development rather than to build a family (Study 4a and 4b). These results expand the literature regarding the effect of economic inequality on human behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Cheng
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Xuan Zhou
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Fang Wang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Mingyang Hao
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
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28
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High Economic Inequality Makes Us Feel Less Wealthy. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.5334/irsp.333] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
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29
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Rodríguez-Bailón R, Sánchez-Rodríguez Á, García-Sánchez E, Petkanopoulou K, Willis GB. Inequality is in the air: contextual psychosocial effects of power and social class. Curr Opin Psychol 2019; 33:120-125. [PMID: 31430712 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2019] [Accepted: 07/08/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Social class and power inequalities are defining features of current societies and tend to influence several social psychological processes. Two types of consequences of social class and power inequalities can be differentiated: mechanical and contextual. Mechanical effects occur when inequality strengthens the relation between social class or power and a given outcome; conversely, contextual effects occur when inequality creates a social context that changes the relationship between social class or power and a given outcome. We exemplify these two different types of effects, focusing on the contextual ones, by analyzing the consequences of social class and power on a) status anxiety, b) the perception of society: social norms and mobility, and c) cohesion and social distance. Finally, we argue that perceived inequality and ideologies of inequality (e.g. economic system justification or social dominance orientation) might moderate these two described effects.
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Moreno-Bella E, Willis GB, Moya M. Economic Inequality and Masculinity-Femininity: The Prevailing Perceived Traits in Higher Unequal Contexts Are Masculine. Front Psychol 2019; 10:1590. [PMID: 31428004 PMCID: PMC6688552 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01590] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2018] [Accepted: 06/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies have shown that economic inequality influences psychological processes. In this article, we argue that economic inequality also makes masculine attributes more prototypical. In Study 1 (N = 106), using an experimental design, we showed that individuals belonging to a society characterized by a higher level of economic inequality are perceived as more masculine than feminine. Study 2 (N = 75) shows, also experimentally, that the upper social class is perceived mostly in terms of masculine traits, and that this effect is greater when economic inequality is relatively high. Conversely, the lower social class is more clearly perceived in terms of feminine traits. These results inform our understanding of the impact of economic inequality on social perception.
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Browman AS, Destin M, Kearney MS, Levine PB. How economic inequality shapes mobility expectations and behaviour in disadvantaged youth. Nat Hum Behav 2019; 3:214-220. [DOI: 10.1038/s41562-018-0523-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2018] [Accepted: 12/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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