Social inequality has received growing public and scientific attention on polity, economy, and individual well-being. However, people appear to underestimate the cost of social inequality and prefer to live with the status quo. Prior research indicated a dual pathway of cognition and motivation to explain this phenomenon, our study aims to figure out the environmental effect that influences people’s perception of social inequality as well as the mechanism of this process. A questionnaire survey was employed in Study 1 to confirm the positive link between market abundance beliefs and support of social inequality and evaluate the mediation role of equal opportunity beliefs. In Study 2, we manipulated participants' perceptions of market abundance by presenting a picture-evaluation task in two experimental settings (i.e., market abundance and market scarcity). The result indicated that in market-abundant conditions, participants endorsed more robust support of social inequality, compared to market scarcity conditions. Also, the relationship between market-abundant stimulation and the support of social inequality was mediated by equal opportunity beliefs. Additionally, Study 3 used the same picture-evaluation task in Study 2 to corroborate the relationship between market abundance and the evaluation of social equality policy. The result indicated that participants show a negative attitude and behavior intention toward social equality policy in market-abundant settings than in market scarcity settings.

Authors:
Qiao Lei, University of Sussex, United Kingdom

About the Presenter(s)
Lei Qiao (Rachel) is a Ph.D. student at the University of Sussex who explores intimate relationships and social influences on human behavior, focusing on social interaction and social inequality.

Connect on ResearchGate
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Qiao-Lei-4

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