Wealth inequality and activism: Perceiving injustice galvanizes social change but perceptions depend on political ideologies |
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| Authors: | Crystal L. Hoyt Aaron J. Moss Jeni L. Burnette Annette Schieffelin Abigail Goethals |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Jepson School of Leadership Studies and Department of Psychology, University of Richmond, Richmond, USA;2. Department of Psychology, Tulane University, New Orleans, USA;3. Department of Psychology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA |
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| Abstract: | What motivates people to engage in activism against wealth inequality? The simple answer is perceiving injustice. However, the current work demonstrates that these perceptions depend on political ideologies. More specifically, for political liberals who frequently question the fairness of the economic system, messages simply describing the extent of the inequality (distributive injustice) are enough to motivate activism (Study 1). For political conservatives, who are inclined to believe that inequality results from fair procedures, messages must also detail how the system of economic forces is unjust (procedural injustice; Studies 2 and 3). Together, these studies suggest perceiving injustice can galvanize social change, but for conservatives, this means more than simply outlining the extent of the inequality. |
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| Keywords: | wealth inequality political ideology procedural justice distributive justice |
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