Economic inequality and social change: The role of Wealth-based identities

Résumé

As economic inequality has grown rapidly in recent years (Piketty, 2020), so has the explosion of social movements against it (e.g., Occupy Wall Street; Stiglitz, 2012). This is because when people identify with groups that acknowledge their unjust social position and are also politicised, they tend to protest for social change (Simon & Klandermans, 2001; van Zomeren et al., 2008). Therefore, in this dissertation, we analysed the intergroup processes that promote greater intolerance towards economic inequality and greater willingness to take collective action to confront it (i.e., to bring about social change in the economic system). We, therefore, tested the effects of identification of a wide variety of wealth-based groups that are characterised by sharing a common grievance. In particular, we analysed the role of traditional politicised wealth-based identities—such as the working class—and more recent group categories—such as the 99% or the common people. We also explored nationalist identities that, instead of promoting economic equality, aim at maintaining the economic status quo by blaming other outgroups (e.g., collective narcissism, Golec de Zavala et al., 2017). Chapter 1 presents the conceptual framework. In Chapter 2 we introduce our main research questions. The next chapters present the empirical studies. Specifically, in Chapter 3 we explore qualitatively how many and which social classes people mention when they think about wealth-based groups. We also examined the labels they used. Far from perceiving two groups (99% and 1%; the working class vs. the bourgeoise), the corpus of the data showed five broad categories of groups: poor, low and working classes, middle classes, upper classes, and rich and beyond. In addition, we analysed how these groups are stereotyped using a quantitative methodology. We found that lower and working classes were perceived more favourably and they were attributed more positive traits than the rich. Still, the psychometric networks showed some ambivalence about the content of these stereotypes. The poor were perceived as warmer, but less competent. In contrast, the rich were mainly characterised as cold and immoral. In Chapter 4, we analysed group coping mechanisms to deal with the collective economic threat resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. In three correlational studies, we examined whether shared and politicised social identity (i.e., identification with the 99% and the working class), as well as having a more interdependent selfconstrual, mediated the positive relationship between threat and a) greater intolerance towards inequality; b) greater willingness to take collective action. The results corroborated our hypotheses, showing that economic threat may be related to prosocial responses to reduce inequality through shared identification with the 99% and the working class, and through an interdependent self-construal. In Chapter 5 we aimed to analyse the correlates of identification with specific social identities, especially those that are politicised due to the economic reality (e.g., the common people, the 99%, and the working class), but also national-based identities (e.g., national identity and collective narcissism). We examined these relationships in two different socio-political contexts: UK and Spain. The results indicated that in the UK identification with common people was associated with greater inequality intolerance and pro-change collective actions. However, common people identification was positively associated with collective action intentions to maintain the status quo in the Spanish context. Further, national collective narcissism had a negative effect on inequality intolerance, pro-change collective actions, and a positive effect on collective action intentions to maintain the status quo. In contrast, wealth-based identities (i.e., 99% and working class) had the opposite effect, that is, predicting the rejection of inequality and the fight for social change. The 99% identity was especially useful in both cultural contexts. Finally, in Chapter 6, we examined the impact of identification within the 99% on intolerance towards inequality and collective action among the middle class. The results showed that people who belong to the middle class as an economic stratum and identify with the 99% have a higher intolerance of inequality and a higher intention to take collective actions to reduce it. This was not the case if people identify with the middle class. These results were confirmed by experimentally manipulating perceived social norms to support the 99%. Finally, in Chapter 7 we discuss our results and highlight their implications, the limitations of the studies carried out, and future lines of research. In summary, economic inequality harms social relations (e.g., it promotes negative stereotypes); however, identification with groups that are disadvantaged and that draw attention to the unfairness of the wealth distribution fosters a rejection of inequality and a greater willingness to take collective action to confront it.