Original Article
Social Class and Ideologies of Inequality: How They Uphold Unequal Societies
Rosa Rodriguez-Bailon,
Boyka Bratanova, Guillermo B. Willis, Lucia Lopez-Rodriguez, Ashley Sturrock, Steve Loughnan,
Corresponding Author
Rosa Rodriguez-Bailon
University of Granada
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rosa Rodriguez-Bailon, Departamento de Psicologia Social, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja s/n, 18011 Granada, Spain. Tel: +34958240690 [e-mail: [email protected]].Search for more papers by this authorRosa Rodriguez-Bailon,
Boyka Bratanova, Guillermo B. Willis, Lucia Lopez-Rodriguez, Ashley Sturrock, Steve Loughnan,
Corresponding Author
Rosa Rodriguez-Bailon
University of Granada
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Rosa Rodriguez-Bailon, Departamento de Psicologia Social, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja s/n, 18011 Granada, Spain. Tel: +34958240690 [e-mail: [email protected]].Search for more papers by this authorThis research was partly supported by grant No. PSI2013-45678P from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación) to the first author.
Abstract
Many societies are becoming increasingly unequal, especially after the Great Recession. This is occurring despite the evidence showing that economic inequality undermines personal and social wellbeing, and that inequality impairs the safe functioning of our societies. Although the main known causes of economic inequality are macro-economic, some psychosocial factors can contribute to maintain it; these factors are the focus of this paper. Study 1 shows that feeling higher class and justifying the economic system increase the perception that the actual resource distribution is fair, and this in turn reduces the extent to which people see their society as unequal; effectively, social class and system justification blind people to inequality. Study 2 goes beyond blinded inequality to examine beliefs that oppose wealth redistribution. Both economic system justification (ESJ) and social dominance orientation (SDO) beliefs deepen inequality: People with strong ESJ or SDO tend not to endorse governmental and nongovernmental activities that reduce inequality. Further, these effects were mediated by a belief in dispositional poverty (i.e., internal causes for being poor). Combined, these studies highlight the importance of beliefs about social standing (subjective SES) and, especially, of ideology regarding the organization of society (ESJ, SDO) in maintaining and deepening levels of inequality.
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