Exposure to Neoliberalism Increases Resentment of the Elite via Feelings of Anomie and Negative Psychological Reactions

Abstract

For several decades now, neoliberalism has been the dominant economic and political ideology throughout large parts of the world. In many places, its rise has gone hand in hand with growing social inequality and a cultural emphasis on individualism and competition. Lately, concerns are being raised about the effects of these developments on politics and societies. The renewed rise of populism in Europe, the United States, and other countries has been attributed to economic insecurity among the working and middle classes by politicians, journalists, and academics alike. Similarly, the spread of nationalist and anti-immigration sentiments is frequently interpreted as a result of fears over job security and perceived competition in a hostile economic climate. We examined the effect of neoliberalism on two types of prejudice (anti-elitism and anti-immigrant prejudice) across two studies in Germany (N = 198) and the UK (N = 173). Results show that priming neoliberalism leads to higher levels of anti-elitism but not anti-immigrant prejudice and that this effect is mediated by anomie and negative psychological reactions (feelings of threat, unfairness, and hopelessness). Thus, our research suggests that while neoliberalism is linked to lower social cohesion and increased outgroup derogation, this is not primarily directed against disadvantaged social groups but against those at the top.With neoliberal economics on the rise and social in equality increasing in large parts of the world, the question of how these developments are affecting societies and their political climates is becoming more and more urgent. As Fritsche and

Neoliberalism can reduce well‐being by promoting a sense of social disconnection, competition, and loneliness

“…market; see SOM). We also added further variables such as anomie, anti-elitism, prejudice, which are not discussed here (see Hartwich & Becker, 2019).…”

“…The variables included in this study were part of a larger survey that addressed a broad range of consequences of neoliberalism and hence a number of measures not relevant to the present research (Hartwich & Becker, 2019). The sample size was determined a priori using G*Power (moderate effect size f 2 = .25, power = .95, a = .05).…”

Women Academics in the World of Neoliberal, Managerial Higher Education

“…As part of this process, certain elements and understandings are identified as important, of more value than others [4], and conversely, other elements are rendered unimportant and of little or no value. This social imaginary is responsible for the creation of wider and wider gaps between those who are privileged and those who are not with inequality currently greater now than any time in the past 100 years [5][6][7][8][9][10]. As explained by Bettache and Chiu [11] (p. 217), neoliberalism condones: social inequality by attributing the presence of social hierarchy to innate individual differences (e.g., IQ) and acquired traits … This attribution style also serves to legitimize the suffering of structurally disadvantaged groups, such as minorities or people with mental health problems.…”

The Invisible Hand is an Ideology: Toward a Social Psychology of Neoliberalism

“…In a transition economy like China, where market has started to replace traditional norms in social regulation, rendering the concept of free market salient decreases interpersonal trust (Zhang & Xin, ). Likewise, in the United States and Germany, increasing the cognitive salience of neoliberalism exacerbates the feelings of anomie, threat, unfairness, and hopelessness, which in turn aggravate negative sentiment toward the establishment elites (Hartwich & Becker, ). This finding resonates with the idea that the dominance of neoliberalism may have created a justice crisis in these advanced capitalist states.…”