The Impact of Inequality and Mobility Perceptions on Beliefs about Meritocracy and Policy Preferences

• In Event: 4244 - Engaging Social Psychology in the Pursuit of Social Justice

Abstract

Americans’ concerns about inequality have not kept pace with the rise in inequality. Many attribute this to lack of public knowledge about inequality, but we propose that these attitudes and related policy preferences depend on perceptions of both inequality and social mobility, and although Americans generally perceive inequality is high, this is offset by greater optimism about mobility and American meritocracy. In two experiments, we manipulated perceptions of U.S. inequality and mobility and measured participants’ concerns about these issues, their belief in meritocracy and the fairness of the American economy, and support for government actions to reduce income differences and increase economic opportunity. We found that both manipulations affected the salience of those issues, but the mobility manipulations had a greater impact on the belief that America is a meritocracy. In contrast, effects on policy preferences were small or nonsignificant. In two ancillary studies, we found that respondents generally perceive inequality as high, but are more optimistic about mobility. This supports our contention that the tendency to for Americans to be less concerned about economic fairness than existing models would predict is likely due more to Americans’ beliefs about mobility than a failure to comprehend the high levels of inequality that exists in the U.S.

Authors

• Nicholas Heiserman, University of South Carolina

• Brent Simpson, University of South Carolina-Columbia

• Robb Willer, Stanford Universty