Why wealthier people think people are wealthier, and why it matters: From social sampling to redistributive attitudes

Two studies provide evidence that social sampling processes (Galesic, Olsson & Reiskamp, 2012) lead wealthier people to oppose redistributive policies. In samples of American Internet users, wealthier participants reported higher levels of wealth in their social circles (Studies 1a, 1b). This was associated, in turn, with estimates of higher mean wealth in the wider US population, greater perceived fairness of the economic status quo, and opposition to redistributive policies. Furthermore, results from a large-scale nationally representative New Zealand survey revealed that low levels of neighbourhood-level socioeconomic deprivation –an objective index of wealth within participants’ social circles – mediated the relation between income and satisfaction with the economic status quo (Study 2). These findings held controlling for relevant variables including political orientation and perceived self-interest. Social-structural inequalities appear to combine with social sampling processes to shape the different political attitudes of wealthier and poorer people.