I choose to be powerful: Economic inequality encourages preferences of power over status positions

Résumé

People living in unequal societies tend to worry about their social status. In this paper, we argue that inequality may have a greater impact on a similar but conceptually different process: choice for power. For this purpose, we conducted two experimental preregistered studies in which inequality within a fictional society was manipulated. Afterwards, we measured the degree of preference and choice for a job with either power or status. We found no evidence that people preferred more power in contexts of high inequality versus low inequality. However, the results of the two studies revealed that the percentage of people who chose a position of power (vs. status) in the high inequality condition was greater than that of the low inequality condition. The effects of economic inequality only appeared when we forced the choice between power and status. This result expands the literature on consequences of economic inequality on power and status.