Department of Psychological Science, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.
Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.
Nat Hum Behav. 2020 May;4(5):496-505. doi: 10.1038/s41562-020-0835-8. Epub 2020 Mar 16.
Amidst rising economic inequality and mounting evidence of its pernicious social effects, what motivates opposition to inequality? Five studies (n = 34,442) show that attributing poverty to situational forces is associated with greater concern about inequality, preference for egalitarian policies and inequality-reducing behaviour. In Study 1, situational attributions for poverty were associated with reduced support for inequality across 34 countries. Study 2 replicated these findings with a nationally representative sample of Americans. Three experiments then tested whether situational attributions for poverty are malleable and motivate egalitarianism. Bolstering situational attributions for poverty through a writing exercise (Study 3) and a computer-based poverty simulation (Studies 4a and b) increased egalitarian action and reduced support for inequality immediately (Studies 3 and 4b), 1 d later and 155 d post-intervention (Study 4b). Causal attributions for poverty offer one accessible means of shaping inequality-reducing attitudes and actions. Situational attributions may be a potent psychological lever for lessening societal inequality.
在经济不平等加剧和越来越多的证据表明其具有有害的社会影响的情况下，人们反对不平等的动机是什么？五项研究（n=34442）表明，将贫困归因于情境因素与对不平等的更大关注、对平等主义政策的偏好以及减少不平等的行为有关。在研究 1 中，对贫困的情境归因与 34 个国家对不平等的支持度降低有关。研究 2 在美国具有全国代表性的样本中复制了这些发现。然后进行了三个实验来测试对贫困的情境归因是否具有可塑造性，并激发平等主义。通过写作练习（研究 3）和基于计算机的贫困模拟（研究 4a 和 b）来增强对贫困的情境归因，立即增加了平等主义行为并减少了对不平等的支持（研究 3 和 4b），1 天后和干预后 155 天（研究 4b）。对贫困的因果归因提供了一种可用来塑造减少不平等的态度和行为的方法。对贫困的情境归因可能是减轻社会不平等的有力心理杠杆。
