In one particularly creative study, researchers examined how a neighbor winning the lottery shaped others’ financial behavior. In comparisons with similar people, inequality can drastically shift our behaviors. This is because social comparisons are particularly salient when made to others in your community. I may care less about a celebrity buying a multimillion-dollar house than my neighbors posting pictures about their luxurious vacation in the Bahamas. Yet not all comparisons are created equal (pun intended). In an age where we are spending more and more time online, it is easy to compare ourselves to others. People disproportionally care about local inequality Here, we offer one slice of the explanation: the psychology behind inequality perpetuates an unequal system.
The answer to this question-at least in part-can be explained by understanding how people experience inequality in their daily lives. Political scientists, economists, and philosophers have wrestled with this paradox for decades. And yet a recent poll shows that less than half of Americans view income inequality as a serious problem. The World Economic Forum ranked income inequality as one of the most important trends driving global risks such as social instability and unemployment. Across societies, higher rates of inequality are associated with a myriad of health and social problems including obesity, mental illness, decreased life expectancy, and higher crime rates.
The adverse effects of economic inequality are well documented. As a result, we have returned to Great Depression levels of income inequality, and for the first time in American history, the working class pay a higher effective tax rate than billionaires. This trend is not reflected in other countries with developed economies: Out of all 36 countries with comparable economics, the US ranks last in equal income distribution. Some claim that decades of systematic legislation have resulted in the wealthiest three families owning more wealth than the bottom half of the country.
This is a reblog from an article on psychlogytoday.Įconomic inequality is at an all-time high in the United States. For that reason, the psychology behind inequality must be talked about. I’m scared by right-wing leaders and political parties who are popping up in Europe in like viruses.
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