How perceptions of autonomy relate to beliefs about inequality and fairness

Abstract

Although inequality in the US has increased since the 1960s, several studies show that Americans underestimate it. Reasons include overreliance on one’s local perspective and ideologically-motivated cognition. We propose a novel mechanism to account for the misperceptions of income inequality. We hypothesize that compared to those who feel less autonomy, the people who believe they are autonomous and have control over their lives also believe that (1) income inequality is lower and (2) income inequality is more acceptable. Using a representative sample of 3,427 Americans, we find evidence to support these hypotheses.

Changing attitudes toward redistribution: The role of perceived economic inequality in everyday life and intolerance of inequality

“…The present study results support recent findings showing that attitudes toward inequality can also predict perceived economic inequality over time (Du & King, 2021). This result has been explained by a motivated cognition process (Aldama et al, 2021). Those who tolerate and justify more inequality perceive less inequality just because they are motivated to not seeing it.…”

“…Furthermore, having positive attitudes toward redistribution and tolerate less inequality can lead to perceiving more inequality. All in all, this process helps to maintain a more consistent view of society, and cognitive dissonance is reduced (Aldama et al, 2021). Future research should explore this dynamic relationship in greater depth to deepen our understanding of the processes that are at play in this rather complex phenomenon.…”

Sociodemographics of Formal and Informal Sector Women Workers of Pakistan and a Comparison of their Perceived and Practiced Autonomy

“…This may be due to several reasons. First, perceptions about autonomy may be strongly related to beliefs about decisionmaking and mobility (Aldama et al, 2021). Thus, women who are being accompanied by male relatives, and are not allowed to travel alone, may still perceive themselves to have greater autonomy and mobility.…”

Perception of economic inequality: concepts, associated factors and prospects of a burgeoning research agenda (Percepción de desigualdad económica: conceptos, factores asociados yproyecciones de una agenda creciente de investigación)

“…Por ejemplo, existe evidencia de que las mujeres son más propensas que los hombres a ver la distribución económica como injusta (Bavetta et al, 2019) y las personas mayores perciben mayor desigualdad que las personas más jóvenes (Lierse, 2019). Recientemente se ha encontrado que las personas que se consideran más autónomas y que tienen control sobre sus vidas también creen que la desigualdad económica es menor y que es más aceptable (Aldama et al, 2021).…”

“…For example, there is evidence that women are more inclined to see the economic distribution as unjust than men (Bavetta et al, 2019), and the elderly perceive less inequality than younger people (Lierse, 2019). Recently, it was found that people who considered themselves more independent and with greater control over their lives also believe that economic inequality is lower and more acceptable (Aldama et al, 2021).…”