Perceptions Of Inequality Research Articles

Does acquisition of formal citizenship have an impact on immigrant adolescents’ perception of racial inequality and discrimination?

ABSTRACT As immigrants account for an increasing proportion of American youth, understanding how these young people experience change in their citizenship status is an important, yet rarely examined area for research. There is a plethora of evidence that opportunities to participate in American society are stratified according to class, race and ethnicity. Although formal citizenship confers important social, political and economic rights that may attenuate the effects of these intersecting factors, it may be difficult for adolescents to appreciate the longer term benefits of naturalization when their everyday experiences involve racial discrimination. In this paper we analyse the first two waves of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Study to examine the effects of acquiring citizenship on perceptions of inequality and discrimination.

Supplemental Material for Are robots/AI viewed as more of a workforce threat in unequal societies? Evidence from the Eurobarometer survey.

Although advanced technologies (i.e., artificial intelligence [AI], robots) are often discussed as drivers of societal inequality, our research examines whether people living in more unequal societies tend to view technology as a greater threat to jobs in general. Building from research that societal inequality heightens concerns about status hierarchies and future resource attainment, we anticipated that workers in more unequal societies would tend to view AI/robots as greater threats (e.g., AI/robots as job destroyers). Utilizing the Eurobarometer 87.1 data set, we found that country inequality, as operationalized via the Gini index, was positively associated with perceptions that AI/robots pose threats of general job loss. These relationships occurred when controlling for people’s perceptions of technological threat to their own personal job, technology skills and interests, and demographics. Moreover, these findings are robust across alternative operationalizations of inequality including the Human Inequality Index and people’s subjective perceptions of current and future inequality in their country. These findings advance theory on inequality and suggest that the broader context—both objective and perceived—may play a role in how people view disruption associated with AI/robots at work.

Are Robots/AI Viewed as More of a Workforce Threat in Unequal Societies? Evidence from the Eurobarometer Survey.

Although advanced technologies (i.e., artificial intelligence (AI), robots) are often discussed as drivers of societal inequality, our research examines whether people living in more unequal societies tend to view technology as a greater threat to jobs in general. Building from research that societal inequality heightens concerns about status hierarchies and future resource attainment, we anticipated that workers in more unequal societies would tend to view AI/robots as greater threats (e.g., AI/robots as job destroyers). Utilizing the Eurobarometer 87.1 dataset, we found that country inequality, as operationalized via the Gini Index, was positively associated with perceptions that AI/robots pose threats of general job loss. These relationships occurred when controlling for people's perceptions of technological threat to their own personal job, technology skills and interests, and demographics. Moreover, these findings are robust across alternative operationalizations of inequality including the Human Inequality Index and people's subjective perceptions of current and future inequality in their country. These findings advance theory on inequality and suggest that the broader context-both objective and perceived-may play a role in how people view disruption associated with AI/robots at work.

Tax the élites! The role of economic inequality and conspiracy beliefs on attitudes towards taxes and redistribution intentions.

Taxation is one of the most widely acknowledged strategies to reduce inequality, particularly if based on progressivity. In a high-powered sample study (N=2119) we investigated economic inequality and conspiracy beliefs as two key predictors of tax attitude and support for progressive taxation. We found that participants in the high economic inequality condition had lower levels of tax compliance and higher levels of conspiracy beliefs and support for progressive taxation. Furthermore, the effect of the experimental condition on tax compliance was mediated by conspiracy beliefs. Finally, conspiracy belief scores were positively associated with support for progressive taxation. Our results provide evidence that attitudes towards taxation are not monolithic but change considering the aims and targets of specific taxes. Indeed, while the perception of economic inequality prompts the desire for equal redistribution, it also fosters conspiracy narratives that undermine compliance with taxes.

Inequality and legitimacy in global governance: an empirical study

This article undertakes an empirical investigation of the relationship between structural inequalities and legitimacy beliefs in global governance. Normative theory often emphasises inequality as a major source of injustice in global politics, but we lack empirical research that examines the implications of inequality for legitimacy in concrete situations of global governance. This paper draws on large mixed-method survey evidence regarding inequality perceptions and legitimacy beliefs at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a key site of global Internet governance that has given particular priority to issues of diversity and inclusion. Our analysis arrives at four main findings. First, participants in ICANN do perceive substantial structural power asymmetries and often find them to be problematic. Second, persons on the perceived subordinate side of these power stratifications tend to observe larger inequalities and to find them more problematic than persons on the perceived dominant side. However, third, these perceptions and concerns about inequality almost never associate with legitimacy beliefs towards ICANN, even among people in structurally subordinated positions and among people who express the greatest worries regarding power inequalities. Fourth, in forming legitimacy perceptions, participants at ICANN generally prioritise other aspects of institutional purpose, procedure and performance, unconnected with inequality. This lack of a relationship between perceptions of inequality and legitimacy beliefs suggests that, however sympathetic policy elites at ICANN might be towards greater equality in principle, they are unlikely to give it precedence in practice.

Seeking racial equity in hematology and oncology: A fellow-led educational series to promote reflection and action.

11004 Background: With the murder of George Floyd and health disparities laid bare by the COVID pandemic, the US is reckoning with racial injustice. Across medicine and oncology, institutions are grappling with how to address systemic racism and improve care for patients of color. At the University of North Carolina (UNC), trainees developed an educational curriculum to raise awareness of implicit bias and introduce methods to address racial inequities. We present our findings on feasibility and acceptability of a fellow-led course on racism in medicine at a major academic medical center. Methods: UNC oncology fellows adapted a curriculum on implicit bias and racism in medicine in spring 2021. Our aims were 1) to improve knowledge and awareness about implicit bias and systemic racism and 2) introduce methods to address racial inequities. We used lived experiences and collated materials from scientific literature and lay media to illustrate key points. Sessions were: 1) Introduction and Implicit Bias, 2) Implicit Bias in Action: A Case Study, 3) Race-Based Metrics: Journal Club, 4) Career Perspective on Equity in Oncology. Videos, journal articles, and group discussion were employed to appeal to many learning styles. Results: Four sessions were held virtually for the Divisions of Oncology and Hematology. Attendance ranged from 28 to 35 per session. A post curriculum survey assessed perception of racial inequality in medicine and the series’ effects using a Likert scale. Twenty-nine participants completed the survey, 12 of whom were fellows. Of all participants, 71% reported that the course improved knowledge or awareness of racial inequities "some" or "a great deal" and 61% reported that it improved their comfort level addressing racial inequities "some" or "a great deal." All participants endorsed at least “some” racial inequity in medicine. Notably, over 75% of participants indicated interest in further sessions. Conclusions: Formulation of an educational curriculum by fellows and delivered in a division wide setting was feasible and well received by participants with robust discussion and interest in further work. Fundamental to this series’ effectiveness was creating a space for discussion and reflection among colleagues. The goals of improving knowledge and introducing methods to address racial inequities were met. Importantly, our course was integrated alongside institutional efforts on DEI. We were limited by a lack of pre-course survey results due to a technical error. Given the current groundswell of interest and focus in improving racial equity in our society, we encourage other institutions to take similar steps to highlight issues of systemic racism and continue to move our field in the right direction.

Perception and privilege

Inequality perceptions differ along racial and gendered lines. To explain these disparities, we propose an agent-based model of localised perceptions of the gender and racial wage gap in networks. We show that the combination of homophilic graph formation and estimation based on locally limited knowledge can replicate both the underestimation of the gender or racial wage gap that empirical studies find and the well-documented fact that the underprivileged perceive the wage gap to be higher on average and with less bias. Similarly, we demonstrate that the underprivileged perceive overall inequality to be higher on average. In contrast to this qualitative replication, we also show that the effect of homophilic graph formation is quantitatively too strong to account for the empirically observed effect sizes within a recent Israeli sample on perceived gender wage gaps. As a parsimonious extension, we let agents estimate using a composite signal based on local and global information. Our calibration suggests that women place much more weight on the (correct) global signal than men, in line with psychological evidence that people adversely affected by group-based inequities pay more attention to global information about the issue. Our findings suggest that (educational) interventions about the global state of gender equality are much more likely to succeed than information treatments about overall inequality and that these interventions should target the privileged.

Gender equity perceptions among social and administrative science faculty: A qualitative evaluation

BackgroundAnecdotal evidence suggests that gender inequity persists in academic pharmacy. To date, there are limited published data about the perception of gender inequity in academic pharmacy. ObjectiveThe objective of this project was to determine themes associated with gender inequity perceptions in social and administrative science faculty from 2 national pharmacy organizations. MethodsA gender equity task force comprising 13 members from Social and Administrative Sciences (SAS) sections of the American Pharmacists Association and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy was formed. The task force designed a semistructured interview guide comprising questions about demographics and core areas where inequities likely exist. When the survey invitation was sent to faculty members of the SAS sections via Qualtrics, faculty indicated whether they were willing to be interviewed. Interviews were conducted by 2 members of the task force via video conferencing application. The interviews were transcribed. Topic coding involving general categorization by theme followed by refinement to delineate subcategories was used. Coding was conducted independently by 3 coders followed by consensus when discrepancies were identified. ResultsA total of 21 faculty participated in the interviews. Respondents were primarily female (71%), were white (90%), had Doctor of Philosophy as their terminal degree (71%), and were in nontenure track positions (57%). Most respondents (90%) experienced gender inequity. A total of 52% reported experiencing gender inequity at all ranks from graduate student to full professor. Four major themes were identified: microaggression (57%), workload (86%), respect (76%), and opportunities (38%). Workload, respect, and opportunities included multiple subthemes. ConclusionFaculty respondents perceive gender inequities in multiple areas of their work. Greater inequity perceptions were present in areas of workload and respect. The task force offers multiple recommendations to address these inequities.

Subjective perception of inequality and injustice by schoolchildren and students: experience of empirical research

Introduction. In modern society, quite a lot of attention is paid to the development of young people, and therefore it seems relevant to study the various parameters of its public mood associated with the perception of inequality and injustice. The purpose of the article is to describe the results of an empirical study aimed at studying the perception of inequality and injustice by schoolchildren and students. Materials and methods. Empirical data are obtained using various standardized methodologies aimed at identifying certain parameters of human development that are significant for the specific perception of inequality and injustice. The results of using the Kullback-Leibler measure to determine the frequency of words related to the understanding of inequality and injustice are presented. The study sample consists of 677 people: students 334 people aged 18 to 23 years old, high school students 343 respondents, aged 14 to 17 years old. Research results. The results of the correlation analysis showed a high (p r ≥ 0.8-0.9) and an average level of reliability of the correlation relationship (p r ≥ 0.5 - 0.7) with both negative and positive values between the various parameters we have chosen methods: various aspects of social frustration are negatively associated with positive coping strategies, optimism and fairness (in the range r=0.92 - 0.52; p≤ 0.01); various aspects of justice with positive expectations, seeking social support, respect for others - self-respect, achievement of results (range r= 0.98 - 0.77; p≤ 0.01); verbal aggression with a negative value r= -0.84 - 0.67; p≤ 0.01. We consider these values continuum: the relationship of justice with positive parameters gives grounds for understanding that in situations of injustice they will acquire a negative value. Three significant factors have been identified that give an idea of the parameters that affect the perception of inequality and injustice by modern schoolchildren and students. Factor load matrix after rotation Promax (PCA) with values from r = 0.5 to p r = 0.9. The correlation coefficient was calculated for the confidence level p≤ 0.01. The results of calculations for verifying personal ideas about inequality and injustice and highlighting their features against the background of statistical data range from 250 to 450 units. frequency distribution density. Conclusion. The results of the study showed that there are certain cognitive, emotional, behavioral and social parameters associated with the perception of inequality and injustice by schoolchildren and students. An important result has been obtained, which consists in the fact that words with a positive emotional connotation correspond, on average, to high frequencies of the use of words recorded by the respondents.

Inequality in researchers’ minds: Four guiding questions for studying subjective perceptions of economic inequality

AbstractSubjective perceptions of inequality can substantially influence policy attitudes, public health metrics, and societal well‐being, but the lack of consensus in the scientific community on how to best operationalize and measure these perceptions may impede progress on the topic. Here, we provide a theoretical framework for the study of subjective perceptions of inequality, which brings critical differences to light. This framework—which we conceptualize as a series of four guiding questions for studying subjective perceptions of economic inequality—serves as a blueprint for the theoretical and empirical decisions researchers need to address in the study of when, how, and why subjective perceptions of inequality are consequential for individuals, groups, and societies. To lay the foundation for a comprehensive approach to the topic, we offer four theoretical and empirical decisions in studying subjective perceptions of inequality, urging researchers to specify: (1) What kind of inequality? (2) What level of analysis? (3) What part of the distribution? and (4) What comparison group? We subsequently discuss how this framework can be used to organize existing research and highlight its utility in guiding future research across the social sciences in both the theory and measurement of subjective perceptions of inequality.

Gender Differences in Burnout Syndrome and Perceptions of Gender Equality in Research Organisations

We present the results of a survey which was distributed to six research performing organisations in Albania, France, Germany, Italy, Serbia, and Spain. We found that both academic and non-academic women perceive 1) a greater degree of work pressure than men; and, 2) a greater degree of gender inequality than men. These results are consistent across countries. The fact that women occupy a lower percentage of senior positions than men and do not share the same perception of inequality, may be critical to the resolution of the leaky pipeline phenomenon. These results have provided incentives to the six organisations to implement measures that address gender biases to ensure a balanced gender representation at decision-making levels, and that improve work-life balance to reduce burnout syndrome and positively affect career satisfaction.

Exploring racial equity in the science education journal review process

AbstractAcross a broad range of disciplines, research has found that inequity is systemic in the journal review process. Collectively, however, this study does not specifically examine racial inequity. Moreover, literature on the peer review process in science education, in particular, does not foreground equity as a subject of study. The present study aims to address this void by examining racial equity in the peer review process with a specific focus on journals in science education. Data are collected from lead editors of major science education journals through the form of interviews, focus groups, and critical arts‐based methods. The two research questions driving data collection are (a) In what ways does the science education journal peer review process promote racial equity? and (b) How are science education journal editors’ perceptions of racial inequity reflected in the peer review process? McNair and colleagues’ racial equity framework informs the explorations of journal review in science education from the lead editors’ perspectives. From our findings, we offer four suggestions for moving toward greater racial equity in the science education peer review process.

The impact of subjective social status, inequality perceptions, and inequality tolerance on demand for redistribution. The case of a highly unequal society

The international literature shows that demand for redistribution is influenced by subjective factors like perceptions of inequality and individuals’ perceived social status. However, few have assessed these subjective dynamics in the developing South, especially in Africa. This study aims to assess the subjective interlinkages between subjective social status, inequality perceptions and demand for redistribution in South Africa, the country with the highest level of inequality in the world. Using ISSP data and an ordered probit model, we show that subjective social status is a negative and significant determinant of demand for redistribution in South Africa. This means that South Africans who position themselves on the lower rungs of society demand higher redistribution and vice versa. Furthermore, perceptions of inequality are significant in driving demand for redistribution in South Africa, as this study finds that inequality tolerance negatively influences demand for redistribution and perceptions of actual inequality positively influence demand for redistribution. This means that South Africans who perceive higher levels of inequality tend to demand more redistribution, while South Africans who tolerate more inequality tend to demand less redistribution. Surprisingly, inequality tolerance is relatively high among the unemployed, Africans, and females. Many of these individuals are part of the most vulnerable in society and would actually benefit from more redistribution. Overall, the results show that, in South Africa, subjective factors like subjective social status and attitudes towards inequality significantly influence demand for redistribution.

The influence of subjective socioeconomic status on executive functions in middle-aged and older adults

ABSTRACT Subjective socioeconomic status (SES) has been shown to influence both psychological and biological outcomes. However, less is known about whether its influence extends to cognitive outcomes. We examined the relation between subjective SES and executive functions (EF)—a set of cognitive control processes—and its underlying mechanisms. By analyzing a nationally representative cohort of middle-aged and older adults (age 40–80) from the MIDUS 2 National Survey and Cognitive Project, we tested a serial mediation model with sense of control and health as sequential mediators. Using structural equation modeling, we found that subjective SES is indirectly related to EF via sense of control and health, above and beyond objective SES and other key covariates. Our study highlights one of the possible biopsychosocial mechanisms that underlies the relation between status-related subjective perceptions of inequalities and executive functioning skills in middle and late adulthood.

Perceptions of Inequality and Political Participation: The Moderating Role of Ideology

While much research has been devoted to the effects of inequality on political participation, little attention has been paid to how different kinds of subjective perceptions of social inequality affect citizens’ political behaviour. This is important since these perceptions shape the message that reaches political decision-makers when addressing concerns over social inequalities. This article differentiates between sociotropic and egocentric perceptions of social inequality and explores to what extent individuals’ perceptions of such inequality affect engagement in institutionalized and non-institutionalized political participation between elections. Engagement was evaluated with a survey among a segment of the Finnish population (n = 1673). Our results indicate that citizens with sociotropic concerns are more likely to get involved in both institutionalized and non-institutionalized forms of political participation, whereas egocentric perceptions have less of an impact. Furthermore, the associations are moderated by left–right ideology: sociotropic concerns are more strongly expressed among left-wing voters, whereas right-wingers are more likely to be propelled to action by egocentric concerns.

On the measurement of opportunity-dependent inequality under uncertainty

The actual level of income inequality and the scope of allocation options influence the individual as well as social perception of inequality under uncertainty. We show how incorporating opportunity concerns under uncertainty would affect inequality perception. An axiomatic system on preferences is suggested and demonstrated to characterize a measure of opportunity-dependent index under uncertainty, which would potentially provide a satisfactory answer to the puzzling observation that many individuals perceive higher level of income inequality although its actual level is low.

A network-based explanation of inequality perceptions

Across income groups and countries, individual citizens perceive economic inequality spectacularly wrong. These misperceptions have far-reaching consequences, as it might be perceived inequality, not actual inequality informing redistributive preferences. The prevalence of this phenomenon is independent of social class and welfare regime, which suggests the existence of a common mechanism behind public perceptions. The literature has identified several stylised facts on how individual perceptions respond to actual inequality and how these biases vary systematically along the income distribution. We propose a network-based explanation of perceived inequality building on recent advances in random geometric graph theory. The generating mechanism can replicate all of aforementioned stylised facts simultaneously. It also produces social networks that exhibit salient features of real-world networks; namely, they cannot be statistically distinguished from small-world networks, testifying to the robustness of our approach. Our results, therefore, suggest that homophilic segregation is a promising candidate to explain inequality perceptions with strong implications for theories of consumption and voting behaviour.

Effects of changes in perceived discrimination during BLM on the 2020 presidential election.

Few Americans change their choice of presidential candidate to a different political party from election to election. This study evaluates whether and in what direction the Black Lives Matter movement affected the small percentage of voters whose presidential votes changed from 2016 to 2020. Six waves of nationally representative probability surveys are used to establish that significant increases in the extent to which Americans perceived discrimination against Blacks and to which people favored more government efforts to address racial inequality both occurred in 2020. Using panel data, results suggest that increases in perceptions of racial inequality significantly increased the probability of vote switching toward the Democratic candidate. Attention to racial injustice also primed voters to rely more heavily on this issue when evaluating candidates.

Perceptions of inequality and social mobility in Mexico

Using new survey and experimental data, we investigate how perceptions about inequality and social mobility affect preferences for redistribution in Mexico. In addition to the perceived level of inequality typically measured in previous studies, we explore perceptions about who is rich and poor and their share of the population. The shape of perceived inequality that we find provides new insights as to why people tolerate large differences between the rich and the poor. We find that Mexicans generally perceive poverty and inequality not too far from measured levels, but they overestimate the income of the rich and their proportion of the population. Their perceptions of social mobility correctly estimate persistence rates at the top and bottom of the distribution, but they overestimate upward and downward mobility. Providing people with more information about observed income inequality and social mobility could be one way to encourage a demand for redistribution. However, randomly providing selected participants with this information has almost zero effect on their desired levels of equality, social mobility, and tax rates. Finally, we find that Mexicans want a progressive tax system in which the poor pay an average tax rate of 14% and the wealthy pay 41%, and that preference for a more progressive tax structure is negatively related to socioeconomic status.

Networking practices and gender inequities in academic medicine: Women's and men's perspectives.

SummaryBackgroundStudies of gender inequities in academic medicine suggest the negative impact of men's networking practices, but little is known about how they shape faculty experiences.MethodsIn this qualitative study, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 52 women and 52 men academic medicine faculty members at 16 institutions across the US in 2019. Interviews explored participants’ experiences and perceptions of gender inequities in academic medicine, including perceptions of men's networking practices. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, and transcripts were analyzed using a mixture of deductively and inductively generated codes.FindingsQualitative analysis of interview transcripts identified different dominant themes: (1) Women were often excluded from networking activities dominated by men, (2) Both women and men referred to men's networking practices in academic medicine, and believed they conferred benefits to members and excluded non-members from such benefits, (3) Participation in such networking activities yielded professional advantages, (4) Women made efforts to counteract their exclusion yet identified limits of those efforts.InterpretationThe data suggests that gender inequities in academic medicine might be associated with professional interactions that occur outside of the scope of professional work practices and in formal work sites. Additional research is needed to better understand practices such as informal networking activities and their impact in order to promote gender equity.