Subjective Inequality: a Review of International Comparative Studies on People’s Views about Inequality

Abstract

This study reviews international comparative studies investigating people’s views on inequality. These studies are classified using a framework consisting of three types of conceptions of inequality and two dimensions of inequality. Four perspectives are discussed explaining cross-national differences in views on inequality: the modernist, the culturalist, the micro and the macro perspective. The findings of studies comparing views on inequalities in post-communist and Western states provide more support for the modernist than for the culturalist perspective. Few comparative studies appear to investigate views on inequalities as independent variables impacting on other social attitudes and behaviours. It is argued that the social relevance of the field will be enhanced if more studies can show that views on inequality have an effect on social outcomes complementary to that of objective inequalities.

Role of Political Habitus in Shaping Dynamics of Democracy: Insights from Nehruvian and Gandhian Period of Democracy in India

“…As suggested by Sachweh and Olafsdottir (2012), perceptions of high levels of inequality do not automatically translate into stronger egalitarian demands; it depends on prevailing social justice norms (Lübker 2004). Moreover, income inequalities are more accepted where they are also perceived to be greater (Gijsberts 2002, Hadler 2005, Janmaat 2013, Osberg and Smeeding 2006. Thus, the link between class, attitude, and objective inequality might depend on the prevailing interpretations given to the latter.…”

Inequality is a problem of inference: How people solve the social puzzle of unequal outcomes

“…Studies suggest that beliefs about inequality vary with age, income, education, religion, and race, and that such differences are observable already with children 14 years of age [43][44][45][46]. Cross-country research similarly shows patterns of variation between citizens of different nations and regions of the world [6,14,47,48]. Table 1 gives an overview of findings.…”

“…Ogbu's "burden of acting white" thesis similarly asserts that the racial 1 In what follows, my focus is on inequality beliefs conceived strictly as people's understanding of the individual or structural causes of (unequal) social outcomes. I acknowledge that these beliefs are related to people's concerns about inequality, their perceptions of the extent of inequality in society, and their ideas regarding what to do about it [6], but the topic of this paper is limited to the former. achievement gap can be explained, in part, by black students opposing school because they think the structural barriers to achievement are insurmountable [18].…”

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