Local exposure to inequality raises support of people of low wealth for taxing the wealthy

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 586; no. 7828; pp. 257 - 261
• Main Authors: Sands, Melissa L., de Kadt, Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 08.10.2020; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 706/134; 706/689/454; 706/689/477/2811; Adolescent; Adult; Behavior; Climate change; Economics; Experiments; Exposure; Female; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Inequality; Male; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Nuclear energy; Pedestrians; Placebo effect; Placebos; Politics; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Social Class; Social Welfare - psychology; Socioeconomic factors; Socioeconomics; South Africa; Taxation; Taxes; Uncertainty; Wealth; Young Adult; South Africa
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2763-1

Psychological research shows that social comparison of individuals with peers or others shapes attitude formation 1 , 2 . Opportunities for such comparisons have increased with global inequality 3 , 4 ; everyday experiences can make economic disparities more salient through signals of social class 5 , 6 . Here we show that, among individuals with a lower socioeconomic status, such local exposure to inequality drives support for the redistribution of wealth. We designed a placebo-controlled field experiment conducted in South African neighbourhoods in which individuals with a low socioeconomic status encountered real-world reminders of inequality through the randomized presence of a high-status car. Pedestrians were asked to sign a petition to increase taxes on wealthy individuals to help with the redistribution of wealth. We found an increase of eleven percentage points in the probability of signing the petition in the presence of inequality, when taking into account the experimental placebo effect. The placebo effect suppresses the probability that an individual signs the petition in general, which is consistent with evidence that upward social comparison reduces political efficacy 4 . Measures of economic inequality were constructed at the neighbourhood level and connected to a survey of individuals with a low socioeconomic status. We found that local exposure to inequality was positively associated with support for a tax on wealthy individuals to address economic disparities. Inequality seems to affect preferences for the redistribution of wealth through local exposure. However, our results indicate that inequality may also suppress participation; the political implications of our findings at regional or country-wide scales therefore remain uncertain. Local exposure to inequality in low-income areas is positively associated with support for a tax on wealthier individuals to address economic disparities.