Inequality and the erosion of trust among the poor: experimental evidence

This article uses a subtle experimental treatment to examine how perceptions of income inequality affect generalized trust and the willingness to cooperate with others. It hypothesizes that inequality reduces prosocial attitudes mostly among low-income citizens, who are very sensitive to changes in...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Gallego Dobón, Aina
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10230/46585
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/46585
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ser/mww010
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Trust
Inequality
Social capital
Descripción
Sumario:This article uses a subtle experimental treatment to examine how perceptions of income inequality affect generalized trust and the willingness to cooperate with others. It hypothesizes that inequality reduces prosocial attitudes mostly among low-income citizens, who are very sensitive to changes in their relative status. The results of the survey experiment conducted in the Netherlands suggest that perceiving the income distribution as more unequal has particularly detrimental effects on the prosocial attitudes of the poor. A disproportionate erosion of trust among the poor due to increases in income inequality may be an important mechanism hindering mobilization in favor of redistribution.