Semantic Apparatus – The Construct of Subjective Economic Inequality

Cited by Lee Sonogan

Abstract by Anita Schmalor , Steven J. Heine

Economic inequality has been associated with a host of social ills, but most research has focused on objective measures of inequality. We argue that economic inequality also has a subjective component, and understanding the effects of economic inequality will be deepened by considering the ways that people perceive inequality. In an American sample (N = 1,014), we find that some of the key variables that past research has found to correlate with objective inequality also correlate with a subjective measure of inequality. Across six countries (N = 683), we find that the relationship between subjective inequality and different psychological variables varies by country. Subjective inequality shows only modest correlations with objective inequality and varies by sociodemographic background.

Publication: Social Psychological and Personality Science (Peer-Reverse Journal)

Pub Date: Mar 9, 2021 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550621996867

Keywords: economic inequality, subjective inequality, culture, well-being

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1948550621996867 (Plenty more sections and references in this research article)