Social Class and Ideologies of Inequality: How They Uphold Unequal Societies

Abstract

Many societies are becoming increasingly unequal, especially after the Great Recession. This is occurring despite the evidence showing that economic inequality

Warmth‐Competence Tradeoffs in Impression Management across Race and Social‐Class Divides

“…Individual beliefs, such as feelings of entitlement, can legitimate inequality (Rodriguez-Bailon et al, 2017). Individual interactions likewise perpetuate and express status divides, hindering action to make a more egalitarian society.…”

Poor but Warm, Rich but Cold (and Competent): Social Classes in the Stereotype Content Model

“…Income inequality undermines many social outcomes such as happiness, wellbeing, and trust (d 'Hombres, Weber, & Elia, 2012;Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009), and it impacts individual psychological processes, such as self-enhancement (Loughnan et al, 2011) and stereotypes (Durante et al, 2013). Stereotypes, in particular, are cultural products that support gaps between high-and low-income people (for other cultural expressions that support class divides, see Becker, Kraus, & Rheinschmidt-Same, 2017;Rodriguez-Bailon et al, 2017;Swencionis, Dupree, & Fiske, 2017;Volpato, Andrighetto, & Baldissarri, 2017). The stereotyping literature, although focused extensively on race, ethnicity, and gender, and somewhat less on age and sexual orientation (e.g., Fiske, 1998Fiske, , 2010, has focused even less on class stereotypes, being especially neglectful of stereotypes about high-SES people (Bullock, Fraser Wyche, & Williams, 2001).…”

Perceptions of Low‐Status Workers and the Maintenance of the Social Class Status Quo

“…These myths are socially shared beliefs that are well adjusted to the specific context (Costa-Lopes, Dovidio, Pereira, & Jost, 2013;Sidanius & Pratto, 1999). Importantly, they are deeply anchored in specific psychological processes, such as the belief in a just world (Dalbert, 2009), attributions for poverty and wealth (Bobbio, Canova, & Manganelli, 2010;Cozzarelli, Wilkinson, & Tagler, 2001), social dominance beliefs (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999), or tendencies to justify the system (Jost & Banaji, 1994; see also Owuamalam, Rubin, Spears, & Weerabangsa, 2017;Rodriguez-Bailon et al, 2017); these shared beliefs lead people to perceive inequalities as legitimate and fair. These processes are particularly important in times of economic crisis, such as the present one, when the competition for scarce resources triggers social conflicts (Sherif, 1966), and low-status groups are more inclined to resort to competitive strategies for opposing increased inequalities (Tajfel, 1981), especially when status is perceived as stable (Scheepers, Spears, Doosje, & Manstead, 2006).…”