Beware of the ‘Bad Guys’: Economic Inequality, Perceived Competition, and Social Vigilance

Lei Cheng,Fang Wang,Mingyang Hao

doi:10.5334/irsp.497

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that economic inequality is associated with macrosocial outcomes and psychological processes. However, the role of economic inequality in social cognition is poorly understood. In this article, we propose that perceived economic inequality increases social vigilance. Three experiments were conducted to examine this idea by manipulating the perception of economic inequality. The results revealed that participants in high-inequality environments exhibited higher levels of social vigilance than in low-inequality environments. Furthermore, perceived competition could mediate the link between economic inequality and social vigilance (Experiments 2–3). The findings expand the literature regarding the effect of economic inequality on social cognition and help people better understand the consequences of economic inequality.

Highlights

In recent decades, as wealth disparities have increased around the world, economic inequality has deeply concerned social scientists
Experiment 1 In Experiment 1, we preliminarily examined the causal relationship between economic inequality and social vigilance by creating three workplace scenarios to manipulate the level of inequality
The result may be due to the difference in the amount of wealth each condition earns as a result of promotion (3,500 vs. 700), regardless of the level of economic inequality

Summary

Introduction

As wealth disparities have increased around the world, economic inequality has deeply concerned social scientists. Ample evidence shows that economic inequality is associated with a series of social problems, such as poorer health (e.g., Kawachi & Kennedy, 1999; Layte & Whelan, 2014; Pickett & Wilkinson, 2015), lower levels of civic participation (e.g., Lancee & van de Werfhorst, 2012; Uslaner & Brown, 2005), higher crime rates (e.g., Choe, 2008; Hsieh & Pugh, 1993), and increased school bullying (e.g., Elgar et al, 2009; Elgar et al, 2013). We aim to investigate how economic inequality as a social-environmental factor promotes social vigilance

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Discussion

Conclusion