Where Does the Money Come From? Humanizing High Socioeconomic Status Groups Undermines Attitudes Toward Redistribution
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemAutor
Sainz Martínez, Mario; Martínez Gutiérrez, Rocío; Rodríguez Bailón, Rosa María; Moya Morales, Miguel CarlosEditorial
Frontiers Media
Materia
Humanization Mechanization High socioeconomic status groups Attributions of wealth Income redistribution
Fecha
2019-03-29Referencia bibliográfica
Sainz M, Martínez R, Rodríguez-Bailón R and Moya M (2019) Where Does the Money Come From? Humanizing High Socioeconomic Status Groups Undermines Attitudes Toward Redistribution. Front. Psychol. 10:771. [doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00771]
Patrocinador
This research was supported by grants no. PSI2016-78839-P (Grant Recipient: RR-B) and No. PSI2017-83966-R (Grant Recipient: MM), from the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad).Resumen
The concentration of wealth in the hands of a few at the expense of general
impoverishment is a major problem in some modern societies. However, there is a
general opposition to redistribution policies or to the application of a progressive taxation
system. The goal of this research was to explore one factor that might drive the
attitudes toward income redistribution: The (de)humanization of high socioeconomic
status groups. Previous studies have shown that high socioeconomic status groups
tend to be considered as unemotional machines without any concern for others.
However, the consequences of mechanizing (vs. humanizing) high socioeconomic
status on the interpretation of socioeconomic differences has not been explored
yet. We considered that humanizing high socioeconomic status groups might have
an unexpected negative effect on attitudes about income inequality and wealth
concentration. Specifically, this research aims to determine how humanizing high
socioeconomic status groups influences people’s perceptions of the group’s wealth
and preferences for income redistribution. We conducted two studies in which we
manipulated the humanity (mechanized vs. humanized in terms of their Human Nature
traits) of a high socioeconomic status group. Results of these two studies showed that
humanizing (vs. mechanizing) high socioeconomic status groups led to lower support for
income redistribution/taxation of wealthy groups, through considering that the group’s
wealth comes from internal sources (e.g., ambition) rather than external ones (e.g.,
corruption). These results were independent of the group’s likeability and perceived
competence/warmth. The present research provides valuable insight about the possible
dark side of humanizing high socioeconomic status groups as a process that could
contribute to the maintenance of the status quo and the legitimation of income inequality
in our societies.