Their Economic Pain, Our Emotional Gain? Inequality and Punishing the Rich

• In Event: Framing and Priming with Political Issues

Abstract

In surveys, people often suggest that they are concerned about economic inequality and believe that economic inequality is a problem. These types of survey responses, however, cannot clarify what people believe causes inequality and which types of policy solutions they would support to address issues of inequality. In this paper, we build on recent research (e.g. Piston 2018) and argue that beliefs about inequality—and consequently policies to address inequality—can have two components: a desire to support the poor and a desire to punish the rich. We demonstrate, however, that for many people it is the desire to punish the rich that is at the heart of people’s support for policies aimed to end inequality, and we posit that desires to punish the rich are bolstered by feelings of schadenfreude, or pleasure at others’ misfortune. Our results are based on four experimental studies, which demonstrate that it is programs that address inequality through a punishment of the rich—even if they do not clearly benefit the poor—that garner the most support and lead to the most positive emotions. Our research carries implications for both understanding what people mean when they say they would like to curb inequality, as well as for the framing of messages about redistributive policies.

Authors

• Hannah Nam, Stony Brook University

• Yanna Krupnikov, Stony Brook University

• Samuel Jens, Stony Brook University