Ideology selectively shapes attention to inequality
https://www.pnas.org/content/118/14/e2023985118
Inequality between groups is all around us—but who tends to notice, and when? Whereas some individuals assert rampant inequality and demand corrective interventions, others exposed to the same contexts retort that their peers see certain inequalities where none exist and selectively overlook inconvenient others.
Across five studies (total N = 8,779), we consider how individuals’ ideological beliefs shape their proclivity to naturalistically attend to—and accurately detect—inequality, depending on which groups bear inequality’s brunt.
Our results suggest that social egalitarians (versus anti-egalitarians) are more naturally vigilant for and accurate at detecting inequality when it affects societally disadvantaged groups (e.g., the poor, women, racial minorities) but not when it (equivalently) affects societally advantaged groups (e.g., the rich, men, Whites).