Unequal by malice, protesters by outrage: Agent perceptions drive moralization of, and collective action against, inequality.
Br J Soc Psychol
; 2024 May 20.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38767600
ABSTRACT
Economic inequality does not encounter strong protests even though individuals are generally against it. One potential explanation of this paradox is that individuals do not perceive inequality as caused by intentional agents, which, in line with the Theory of Dyadic Morality (Schein & Gray, 2018), should prevent its assessment as immoral and consequently dampen moral outrage and collective action. Across three studies, we test and confirm this hypothesis. In Studies 1 (N = 395) and 2 (N = 337), the more participants believed that inequality is human driven and caused by intentional agents, the more they moralized inequality, felt outraged and wanted to engage in collective action. This was confirmed in Study 3 (N = 243) through an experimental design. Thus, our research shows that agent perception is crucial in the moralization of economic inequality and, more broadly, that morality can be a powerful motivator and effectively mobilize people to action.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Br J Soc Psychol
Año:
2024
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Italia
Pais de publicación:
Reino Unido