Economic inequality reduces sense of control and increases the acceptability of self-interested unethical behavior.

Abstract

Societies worldwide are witnessing higher levels of economic inequality. While prior work has examined ethical judgments toward inequality itself (e.g., “is inequality unethical?”), less is known about how inequality shapes judgments of unethical behavior (e.g., “is unethical behavior more acceptable?”). In two correlational studies, we find that higher objective (Study 1; n = 127,953) and subjective (Study 2; n = 806) inequality is associated with greater acceptability of self-interested unethical behavior. In Studies 3a–6b (total N = 4,851; preregistered), we manipulated perceived inequality and test several mediating pathways. Results point toward the importance of sense of control as a mechanism: Under conditions of high inequality, individuals report a lower sense of control, which increases the acceptability of self-interested unethical behaviors. As a supplement, we also explore associations regarding why high inequality reduces sense of control (reduced perceptions of social mobility) and why sense of control is associated with greater acceptability of unethical behavior (greater situational attributions). Overall, our results suggest inequality changes ethical standards by reducing one’s sense of control, providing evidence for another pathway through which inequality harms societies.

When are people more open to cheating? Economic inequality makes people expect more everyday unethical behavior

“…Taken together, this past research leads us to predict that when people perceive more inequality, they will become more likely to expect others and themselves to act more unethically. In line with this, recent research showed that when perceived and actual levels of inequality were higher, people found unethical behavior of others to be more acceptable [ 25 ].…”

“…Economic inequality has been increasing over recent decades, and this is problematic because inequality has been associated with several negative consequences [e.g., 1 , 16 ] including more unethical behaviors [e.g., 4 , 6 ], and the acceptance of unethical behaviors by others [ 25 ]. The present research suggests that perceiving high levels of inequality leads people to expect that they will act more unethically.…”

“…In turn, this belief may then decrease levels of trust. If people expect that they will act more unethically, societal functioning and cooperation may become undermined [e.g., 25 ]. Further, this belief may also increase the actual occurrence of unethical behavior [ 39 , 40 ].…”

“…In the present research, we focus on people’s expectations of everyday unethical behaviors, such as keeping extra change instead of returning it to the clerk or keeping a pair of pants that was delivered to the wrong address. We define unethical behavior here as everyday transgressions that violate social norms, although they aren’t necessarily against the law [e.g., 25 – 27 ]. Much research has focused on the effects of inequality on more severe forms of unethical behaviors such as crime [e.g., 4 ] or corruption [ 11 ].…”

“…We test whether people expect that they themselves will engage in more unethical behavior when they perceive inequality to be high as opposed to low. Past research shows that people find unethical behavior more acceptable when they perceive inequality to be high [ 25 ]. This shift in acceptability suggests that it is possible that people are more likely to say they would engage in unethical behaviors too.…”