People are more tolerant of inequality when it is expressed in terms of individuals rather than groups at the top

https://www.pnas.org/content/118/43/e2100430118

Despite the ever-growing economic gap between the very wealthy and the rest of the population, support for redistributive policies tends to be low.

This research tested whether people’s tolerance of inequality differs when it is represented in terms of a successful individual versus a group of people at the top of the economic ladder. We propose that drawing people’s attention to wealthy individuals undermines support for redistribution by leading people to believe that the rich person’s wealth is well deserved.

Across eight studies (n = 2,800), survey participants rated unequal distributions of resources as more fair when presented with an individual, rather than a group, at the top of the distribution. Participants also expressed lower support for redistributive policies after considering inequality represented by successful individuals compared to groups.

This effect was driven by people’s different attributions for individual versus group success. Participants thought that individuals at the top were more deserving of their successes and, in turn, were less likely to support redistribution when inequality was represented by individual success.

These findings suggest that support for inequality, and policies to reduce it, may depend on who people are led to consider when they think about the top of the economic distribution.

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2021/10/lavish-wealth-tolerated-more-individuals-groups

That higher tolerance for individual wealth changed in a study that encouraged subjects to think about external factors such as privilege and connections – in this case, a “Bollywood” actor born into a family prominent in the industry.

“When we did this, the effect goes away,” Gilovich said. “People are every bit as willing to tax a rich person when they’ve been led to make situational attributions for the individual’s success.”

The findings suggest that a common practice in writing and journalism – leading with a personalized story to illustrate a broader issue or trend – may backfire with respect to income inequality, at least when portraying those at the top, the researchers said. Government officials, nonprofits, journalists and others seeking to make people care about the issue, they said, should draw attention to the wealthy as a class, not to wealthy individuals.

“If you want to change the system,” Gilovich said, “you’ve got to make people think in systemic terms.”