DOI
10.1002/ejsp.2289
Abstract
What motivates people to engage in activism against wealth inequality? The simple answer is, perceiving injustice. However, the current work demonstrates that these perceptions depend on political ideologies. More specifically, for political liberals who frequently question the fairness of the economic system, messages simply describing the extent of the inequality (distributive injustice) are enough to motivate activism (Study 1). For political conservatives, who are inclined to believe that inequality results from fair procedures, messages must also detail how the system of economic forces is unjust (procedural injustice; Studies 2 and 3). Together, these studies suggest perceiving injustice can galvanize social change, but for conservatives, this means more than simply outlining the extent of the inequality.
Document Type
Post-print Article
Publication Date
2017
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2017 John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2289
The definitive version is available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejsp.2289/full
Full Citation:
Hoyt, Crystal L., Aaron J. Moss, Jeni L. Burnette, Annette Schieffelin, and Abigail Goethals. "Wealth inequality and activism: Perceiving injustice galvanizes social change but perceptions depend on political ideologies." European Journal of Social Psychology. doi:10.1002/ejsp.2289.
Recommended Citation
Hoyt, Crystal L., Aaron J. Moss, Jeni L. Burnette, Annette Schieffelin, and Abigail Goethals. "Wealth inequality and activism: Perceiving injustice galvanizes social change but perceptions depend on political ideologies." European Journal of Social Psychology. doi:10.1002/ejsp.2289.