Perceptions Of Inequality Research Articles

Social Workers’ Perceptions of Structural Inequality and Immigrant Threat: Results From a National Survey

ABSTRACT As part of a national survey on social workers’ attitudes toward immigrants and immigration (N=4,499), we collected information on respondents’ perceptions of immigrants as threats and respondents’ views on structural inequality as it pertains to immigrants’ opportunities for success. Contrary to the Council on Social Work Education’s Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards stating the need for social workers to understand the existence and functioning of structural forces of inequality, nearly a third of our respondents denied that immigrants are disadvantaged compared to U.S.-born citizens, and more than a third denied that disadvantage is related to race, ethnicity, or national origin. Those who denied disadvantage were more likely than those who did not to see immigrants as threats. We provide interpretations for these findings and offer some recommendations for social work research and education geared toward deepening practitioners’ knowledge of the structural barriers faced by immigrants.

The perception of economic inequality in everyday life: My friends with the most and least money

The study of perceived economic differences in everyday life is relevant to deepening knowledge of how inequality shapes psychological processes. In the current research, Spanish undergraduates (N = 547) were asked what their friends with the most and least money could do with their resources. Using a qualitative and quantitative approach, we performed a content analysis of the 1,085 open‐ended responses given, ran latent class analyses with the coded material to identify groups of participants, and explored whether class membership was associated with their awareness of inequality and support for redistribution. Participants perceived inequality among their friends through daily indicators such as consumption, opportunities, leisure, and mental health; some participants used compensatory strategies to mitigate perceived inequality. Latent class analyses suggested that participants differed mostly in the attention paid to consumption and in the use of compensatory strategies. Exploratory analyses suggested that perceiving inequality in everyday life in terms of consumption, negative attributes towards the wealthy, or positive attributes towards low socioeconomic groups was related to acknowledging economic differences among individuals and support for redistribution. The study of perceived economic inequality in everyday life continues a new line of research with the potential to obtain results more consistent with people's experiences.

공정성 원칙으로서 능력주의와 불평등 인식 : 한국과 일본의 비교

이 연구는 공정성 원칙이 불평등 인식에 미치는 영향을 한국과 일본의 비교를 통해서 살펴 보았다. 능력주의를 공정성 원칙의 하나로 간주하고, 강한 능력주의, 약한 능력주의, 비능력주의가 불평등 인식에 다른 영향을 미치는지를 탐색하였다. 불평등 인식은 기회의 불평등 인식과 결과의 불평등 인식으로 나눠 분석하였다. 공정성은 불평등을 판단하는 근거이자 기준이기 때문에, 공정성 원칙에 따라 불평등을 용인하는 태도가 달라질 것으로 기대했다. 또한 노력에 대한 보상으로서의 약한 능력주의와 실적이나 재능을 보상하는 강한 능력주의는 차별적인 효과를 낼 것으로 기대했다. 분석결과를 보면 다음과 같다. 한국과 일본의 비교에서, 우선 한국에서는 공정성 원칙이 불평등 인식에 미치는 영향이 미미했지만, 일본에서는 훨씬 뚜렷했다. 한국에서는 소득격차 인식에서 약한 능력주의에 비해서 강한 능력주의가 불평등을 더 용인하는 태도에 영향을 다소 뚜렷하게 미쳤으나, 그 외에는 공정성 원칙의 뚜렷한 효과가 나타나지 않았다. 둘째, 일본에서는 강한 능력주의는 약한 능력주의에 비해서 불평등을 더 용인하는 태도에, 그리고 약한 능력주의도 비능력주의에 비해서 불평등을 더 용인하는 태도에 영향을 미쳤다. 결국 이 연구는 공정성 원칙이 불평등 인식에 미치는 영향은 분명 있지만, 능력주의에 대한 동의의 정도나 불평등에 대한 사회적 수용이 다른 사회의 경우, 불평등 인식에서 공정성 원칙의 효과가 달리 나타나는 것을 보여주었다. 일본과 비교해 볼 때, 한국은 노력에 대한 보상을 위해 소득격차를 더 필요로 한다는 가치관이 지배적인 만큼, 공정성 원칙의 효과가 미미한 것으로 보인다.

Constraints in Water Access in Laikipia County, Case of Ewaso Ng’iro River Basin in Kenya

Challenges to water access are characterized by ineffective water institutions in Upper Ewaso Ng’iro North River basin. The inability of policies to create trust and equity for sustainable water access is critical despite institutional reforms undertaken over the years. The impact of scarcity and limitations noted are more pronounced in upstream downstream landscape breeding a sense of dissatisfaction and perception of inequality among water users and stakeholders. Study adopted a mixed methods with data collection tools used were; desktop analysis, field visits and discussions, structured questionnaires, Key Informant Interviews and Focus Group Discussions. Interviews with 384 randomly selected households were conducted and data analyzed using descriptive statistics. Theory of Access informed the study. The findings showed that rivers and boreholes are the main water sources in the sub-basin. Consequences of the unsatisfactory state of water access attributed to weak water governance policies and water management institutions. Lack of trust among water users remains latent easily triggered by scarcity and political-economic and social disruptions during severe droughts. The study’s recommendations are the development of effective communication mechanisms to share information, adherence to regulations, and government to implement current and past reforms to mitigate constraints to water access.

Americans' View of the Impact of COVID-19: Perspectives on Racial Impacts and Equity.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disparate effect on African Americans and Latinos. But it is unknown how aware the public is of these differences and how the pandemic has changed perceptions of equity and access to health care. We use panel data from nationally representative surveys fielded to the same respondents in 2018 and 2020 to assess views and changes in views over time. We found that awareness of inequity is highest among Non-Hispanic Black respondents and higher-income and higher-educated groups, and there have been only small changes in perceptions of inequity over time. However, there have been significant changes in views of the government's obligation to ensure access to health care. Even in the face of a deadly pandemic, one that has killed disproportionately more African Americans and Latinos, many in the United States continue not to recognize that there are inequities in access to health care and the impact of COVID-19 on certain groups. But policies to address inequity may be shifting. We will continue to follow these respondents to see whether changes in attitudes endure over time or dissipate.

Economic Inequality in Preindustrial Times: Europe and Beyond

Recent literature has reconstructed estimates of wealth and income inequality for a range of preindustrial, mostly European, societies covering medieval and early modern times, occasionally reaching back to antiquity and even prehistory. These estimates have radically improved our knowledge of distributive dynamics in the past. It now seems clear that in the period circa 1300–1800, inequality of both income and wealth grew almost monotonically almost everywhere in Europe, with the exception of the century-long phase of inequality decline triggered by the Black Death of 1347–52. Regarding the causes of inequality growth, recent literature ruled out economic growth as the main one. Other possible factors include population growth (also as mediated by inheritance systems) and especially regressive fiscal institutions (also as connected to the unequal distribution of political power). The recently proposed theoretical framework of the inequality possibility frontier (IPF) lends a better understanding of the implications of the reconstructed trends. This article concludes by showing how connecting preindustrial trends to modern ones changes our perception of long-term inequality altogether. (JEL D31, D63, N33)

Диференціації доходів населення: об’єктивна та суб’єктивна оцінка

The article is devoted to an empirical analysis of the relationship between objective and subjective assessment of inequality in income distribution. Identifying the relationship between these indicators is a topical issue and requires research to verify the relationship between statistical, graphical and correlation-regression analysis. The objective level of income inequality is represented by the value of the Gini index, and the subjective assessment is the result of a survey of respondents in the World Values Survey project, namely the weighted average perception of inequality on a 10-point scale. The analysis of a sample of 36 countries as a whole and separately in Ukraine was carried out. The results on the nature of the relationship between the selected indicators of inequality in income distribution were obtained.

I Perceive Therefore I Demand: The Formation of Inequality Perceptions and Demand for Redistribution

This paper shows that perceptions of inequality matter for demand for redistribution and investigates how individuals form their perceptions. Using data from the ISSP, we present new evidence on the significant changes of perceptions of inequality for more than 20 countries during the last three decades and how these are not in synch with changes in objective inequality. Rather than indicating misperceptions, these discrepancies reflect a broader view of inequality that for most individuals encompasses poverty, insecurity in the labor markets, availability of public goods in addition to objective income disparities. We then show that these perceptions have much stronger correlation with demand for redistribution than objective inequality, or any of the mentioned contextual variables that mold perceptions. Ideology and self‐interest also contribute to demand for redistribution. Much more than those on the left, right‐leaning individuals adjust their demand for redistribution in line with their inequality perceptions.

Individuals’ socioeconomic position, inequality perceptions, and redistributive preferences in OECD countries

The standard model of redistribution posits that attitudes towards redistribution are driven by pure economic self-interest, such as current income. From a social-psychological perspective, however, subjective social status, apart from objective income or social status, is also closely associated with policy preferences. This inquiry directly compares these two different approaches and further explores the role of individuals’ inequality perceptions, including personal norms of inequality to which researchers have paid little attention so far, in shaping individuals’ preferences for redistribution. The current evidence shows that the explanatory power of objective income position is not stronger than that of subjective social position in determining redistributive preferences, while objective social position, which is a summary measure of income, education, and occupation, is more strongly associated with the preferences than perceived social position. The results also demonstrate that individuals’ inequality norms play a more crucial role in the preference formation than does their perceptions of actual inequality. These new findings contribute to redistributive politics and behavioural economics on other-regarding preferences, first, by rebutting the determining role of objective income position in shaping redistributive preferences, as opposed to the basic assumption of the conventional redistribution hypothesis; second, by providing the empirical evidence of the importance of social preferences outside the field of experimental studies.

(Mis-)perception of Inequality:measures, determinants, and consequences

Despite being considered by many to be harmful for society, inequality has been rising in the past decades. How people experience the level of inequality may be different from the objective levels of inequality. In this literature review we systematically revisit common elicitation methods of perceived inequality and find that they lead to quite different conclusions. Yet, it is clear that most people’s perceptions of inequality are biased. Individuals’ past experience and exposure to local inequality, have profound impact on subjective perception of inequality and on redistribution preferences. Positive expectations about upward mobility explain lack of support for redistribution.

Neighborhoods, Perceived Inequality, and Preferences for Redistribution: Evidence from Barcelona

I study the effects of neighborhoods on perceived inequality and preferences for redistribution. Using administrative data on the universe of dwellings and real estate transactions in Barcelona (Spain), I construct a novel measure of local inequality — the Local Neighborhood Gini (LNG). The LNG is based on the spatial distribution of housing within a city, independent of administrative boundaries, and building-specific. I elicit inequality perceptions and preferences for redistribution from an original large-scale survey conducted in Barcelona. I link those to respondents' specific local environments using exact addresses. I find that one standard deviation increase in LNG is associated with 4% higher perceived inequality, but with (if anything) lower demand for redistribution. Residential sorting explains the counter-intuitive pattern. To causally identify the effects of local environments, I exploit within-neighborhood variation from the rise of new apartment buildings as a quasi-experiment. Exposure to new buildings shifts perceived inequality by 7% and demand for redistribution by 2.5%. I finally exploit cross-neighborhood variation in information about local inequality from a survey experiment to explore whether more distant neighborhoods also play a role. The information treatment does not yield significant effects, consistent with the idea that what is close is more relevant. Neighborhoods shape inequality perceptions and (to a lesser extent) demand for redistribution.

Measuring local, salient economic inequality in the UK

Nascent research across academic disciplines finds that local economic inequality is an important driver of attitudes and behaviour. However, given a lack of granular data on income and wealth in the UK, measuring local economic inequality has been impossible. I address this measurement gap by exploiting data on housing values for over 26.6 million addresses -- nearly the universe of residential properties in the UK -- producing a fine-grained measure of local inequality for the first time. Across two surveys, I demonstrate that housing inequality is substantively associated with perceptions of income inequality, suggesting that housing value inequality is salient to individuals. Finally, I examine patterns of inequality from the city down to the neighbourhood-level, revealing some striking facts: first, there is far larger variation in inequality at the neighbourhood-level than at the level of cities and above, pointing to varied experiences and encounters with inequality that is obscured by taking a macro focus. Second, inequality has declined at the local level on average from 1999 to 2019.

Middle-Class Perceptions of Inequality Compared to Other Russians: Consensus or Disagreement?

Middle-Class Perceptions of Inequality Compared to Other Russians: Consensus or Disagreement?

Middle Class Perceptions of Inequality Compared to Other Russians: Consensus or Disagreement?

Middle Class Perceptions of Inequality Compared to Other Russians: Consensus or Disagreement?

Middle-Class Perceptions of Inequality Compared to Other Russians: Consensus or Disagreement?

Middle-Class Perceptions of Inequality Compared to Other Russians: Consensus or Disagreement?

Temporal change in inequality perceptions and effects on political attitudes

ABSTRACT Widespread unawareness and indifference arguably contribute to growing inequalities. However, previous studies have paid little attention to the applicability of these arguments over time. This paper demonstrates that perceptions of inequality and their effects on attitudes towards inequality and redistribution can change considerably. Using social survey data from the United States (1987–2009), it is shown that perceptions of income inequality do not have the same effect on attitudes throughout the period under study. Perceptions of opportunity inequality, which have received less attention in prior studies, produce more stable results. Accounting for and explaining such changes is necessary to advance research on inequality and public opinion.

How the Perception of Economic Inequality Can Affect to Policy Preferences: An Endogenous Ordered Probit Model Approach

How the Perception of Economic Inequality Can Affect to Policy Preferences: An Endogenous Ordered Probit Model Approach

Understanding Informal Learning Experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic

본 연구는 COVID-19로 인한 삶의 변화 속에서 시민들이 어떠한 무형식 학습 경험들을 해나가는지 이해하고자 하였다. 이를 위해 연구자들은 환경 변화에 따른 개인들의 생각과 태도를 이해하는 질적 연구 방법을 활용하였으며, 일상적으로 자주 접하는 사람들을 연구 참여자로 섭외하여 비구조화된 인터뷰를 진행하였다. 연구 결과 시민들은 COVID-19 상황 속에서 온라인 소통의 가능성과 한계, 일과 삶의 경계가 모호해짐에 따라 생활의 리듬을 스스로 만들어나가는 능력의 계발, 기존의 생각, 관점, 상식의 변화, 마스크 착용을 둘러싼 사회적 불평등 인식이라는 학습 경험을 하였다. 이를 통해 감염병 확산으로 평생교육 기회가 제 기능을 발휘하지 못하는 상황에서 시민들은 무형식 학습을 통해 보완적으로 학습을 해나감을 확인할 수 있었다. 그러나 학습자가 동원하는 정보나 자원의 속성에 따라 학습의 양상이 달라질 수 있어 사회적 소통을 통해 무형식 학습이 검증되는 담화의 과정을 거쳐야 함을 논의하였다. 또한 COVID-19로 인하여 온라인 활용이 급속도로 확산되었으나 교육학적인 성찰과 고민을 통해 온라인 활용이 진정한 학습으로 이어질 수 있도록 보완되어야 하고, 집단적 활동에서 소외된 시민들이 물리적으로 고립된 상황 속에서도 사회적 활동과 소통을 이어나갈 수 있도록 사회적 관심과 지원이 있어야 한다는 점을 지적하였다. 아울러, 마스크 미착용자에 대한 시민들의 불만이 사회적 자본 및 공동체 구성원 간의 신뢰 저하로 연결될 수 있다는 점도 논의하였다This study aims to understand the informal learning experiences of citizens whose lives changed because of COVID-19. To this end, the researchers analyzed the characteristics of individual thoughts and attitudes according to environmental changes through qualitative research methods, and conducted ethnographic interviews by recruiting people who frequently encounter as research participants. As a result of the study, citizens had several learning experiences in the context of COVID-19: the possibilities and limitations of online communications, the development of the ability to create a rhythm of life within the blurred boundaries of work and life, changes in existing thoughts, perspectives, common sense, and perception of social inequality about wearing masks. Through the research results, it was confirmed that citizens can learn complementarily through informal learning in a situation where lifelong education opportunities do not function properly due to the spread of infectious diseases. However, it was discussed that the learning pattern may vary according to the nature of the information or resources mobilized by the learner, and thus the process of discourse in which informal learning is verified through social communications was discussed. In addition, online use has spread rapidly due to COVID-19, but systematic management or educational support for online learning has not yet been established, so it should be supplemented so that online use can lead to true learning through pedagogical reflection and consideration. Even in a physically isolated situation, it was possible to confirm that people s daily rhythms were formed by connecting social activities and communications using online systems, and through this, it was understood that social interest and support should be made available to citizens who are marginalized from collective activities. Lastly, it was discussed that amid the spread of infectious diseases, a situation in which complaints against non-mask users accumulate, and thus, the trust between social capital and community members may decrease.

Donor Designation Among Mature Latinas and Lay Health Educators (Promotoras): A Mixed-Methods Study.

Despite positive public attitudes toward solid organ donation in the United States, some of the lowest rates of donor designation persist among older adults and Latinx populations. To identify barriers and facilitators to organ donation and donor designation among lay health educators (promotoras) and mature Latina (50+ years). An explanatory sequential mixed-method design was employed, with telephone surveys followed by focus group interviews, to assess and understand the nuances of organ donation and donor designation knowledge, attitudes, and practices among promotoras and mature Latinas in Chicago (IL), Philadelphia (PA), and San Antonio (TX). Descriptive statistics summarized quantitative survey data; thematic content analysis was performed on qualitative data. Twenty-nine promotoras and 45 mature Latina participated in both the surveys and focus groups (N = 74). Most participants (90%) had limited knowledge of organ donation but reported being "somewhat" or "strongly" in favor of donation (70%); 40.5% were registered donors. Participants lacked knowledge about the registration process and its legal standing and upheld concerns that registered donors would be vulnerable to organ traffickers or targets for murder. Themes emerging from the group interviews revealed additional barriers to designation including distrust of the medical establishment, perceptions of inequities in organ allocation, and family resistance to discussing death. Low donor designation rates are primarily driven by concerns about organ trafficking and the fairness of the allocation system, particularly for undocumented immigrants. The results informed development of a culturally targeted educational and communication skills intervention to increase donor designation in Latinx communities. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04007419.

The nexus between perceptions of inequality and preferences for redistribution

This paper shows that perceptions of inequality are a key factor in the formation of preferences for redistribution and thereby in the determination of the equilibrium redistribution level. We build on the novel stylized facts provided by the survey experimental literature on perceptions of income inequality, highlighting that agents incorrectly estimate the shape of the income distribution because of limited information. Agents with income above the mean believe they are poorer than they actually are, and agents with income below the mean believe themselves to be richer. We revisit the standard framework on the political economy of redistribution and extend it in two ways. First, we introduce a more general two-sided inequality aversion. Second, we incorporate perceptions of income inequality, modeled by assuming that agents form expectations on the income level of the richest and the poorest in society. We show analytically that the equilibrium redistribution level is crucially determined by the interplay between the information treatment correcting the bias in perceptions of inequality and fairness considerations specified by the degree of inequality aversion. By doing this, we add (biased) perceptions of inequality to the list of potential factors explaining why, notwithstanding high inequality, an increase in the desire for redistribution has not been observed in many countries.