Sainz Mario, Martínez Rocío, Rodríguez-Bailón Rosa, Moya Miguel
Mind, Brain and Behavior Research Center, Department of Social Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
School of Psychology, University of Monterrey, Nuevo Léon, Mexico.
Front Psychol. 2019 Mar 29;10:771. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00771. eCollection 2019.
The concentration of wealth in the hands of a few at the expense of general impoverishment is a major problem in some modern societies. However, there is a general opposition to redistribution policies or to the application of a progressive taxation system. The goal of this research was to explore one factor that might drive the attitudes toward income redistribution: The (de)humanization of high socioeconomic status groups. Previous studies have shown that high socioeconomic status groups tend to be considered as unemotional machines without any concern for others. However, the consequences of mechanizing (vs. humanizing) high socioeconomic status on the interpretation of socioeconomic differences has not been explored yet. We considered that humanizing high socioeconomic status groups might have an unexpected negative effect on attitudes about income inequality and wealth concentration. Specifically, this research aims to determine how humanizing high socioeconomic status groups influences people's perceptions of the group's wealth and preferences for income redistribution. We conducted two studies in which we manipulated the humanity (mechanized vs. humanized in terms of their Human Nature traits) of a high socioeconomic status group. Results of these two studies showed that humanizing (vs. mechanizing) high socioeconomic status groups led to lower support for income redistribution/taxation of wealthy groups, through considering that the group's wealth comes from internal sources (e.g., ambition) rather than external ones (e.g., corruption). These results were independent of the group's likeability and perceived competence/warmth. The present research provides valuable insight about the possible dark side of humanizing high socioeconomic status groups as a process that could contribute to the maintenance of the status quo and the legitimation of income inequality in our societies.
财富集中在少数人手中，却以普遍贫困为代价，这在一些现代社会中是一个重大问题。然而，人们普遍反对再分配政策或累进税制的实施。本研究的目的是探讨一个可能影响人们对收入再分配态度的因素：高社会经济地位群体的（去）人性化。先前的研究表明，高社会经济地位群体往往被视为没有情感的机器，对他人毫不关心。然而，将高社会经济地位群体机械化（与人性化相对）对社会经济差异解读的影响尚未得到探讨。我们认为，将高社会经济地位群体人性化可能会对人们对收入不平等和财富集中的态度产生意想不到的负面影响。具体而言，本研究旨在确定将高社会经济地位群体人性化如何影响人们对该群体财富的认知以及对收入再分配的偏好。我们进行了两项研究，在研究中我们操纵了高社会经济地位群体的人性（就其人性特征而言，分为机械化与人性化）。这两项研究的结果表明，将高社会经济地位群体人性化（与机械化相对）会导致对富人群体收入再分配/征税的支持率降低，因为人们认为该群体的财富来自内部因素（如抱负）而非外部因素（如腐败）。这些结果与该群体的受欢迎程度以及感知到的能力/温暖程度无关。本研究为将高社会经济地位群体人性化这一过程可能存在的阴暗面提供了有价值的见解，该阴暗面可能有助于维持现状并使我们社会中的收入不平等合法化。
