Feeling—Not Being—Wealthy Cuts Support for Economic Redistribution

Pacific Standard:

Psychologists and political scientists have puzzled for some time about why the same Americans who favor greater economic equality don’t also support the kinds of redistributive economic policies that would get them there. Perhaps, some say, it’s political ideology. Perhaps it’s some kind of twisted self-interest. Or perhaps it’s because of how easy it is to make someone feel relatively poor or relatively well-off.

…

So what is it then? While it’s not a complete answer, Jazmin Brown-Iannuzi and colleagues at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill say that subjective social status, rather than actual financial well-being, is likely playing a role. They backed that up with a series of studies they conducted online in which they carefully manipulated how people thought about their own social status.

Read the whole story: Pacific Standard