The luck of the draw: How attributions for poverty shape support for economic inequality

Despite growing economic inequality the American population remains relatively un-motivated to tackle this issue--why? In six studies (n = 34,198), I aimed to answer this question by exploring the link between both dispositional and situational attributions for poverty and support for economic inequality. In Study 1 I used cross-national data from 34 countries to examine the relationship between attributions for poverty and support for economic inequality. I found that people demonstrated less support for economic inequality in countries where the majority of respondents provided situational (as opposed to dispositional) attributions for poverty. In Study 2a I had participants complete an immersive online poverty simulation or play Monopoly. I found that relative to Monopoly, the poverty simulation led to an increase in situational attributions for poverty and turn diminished support for economic inequality and increased support for redistribution. In Study 2b I conducted a high-powered pre-registered replication and extension of these results. In Study 3a, I presented participants with evidence counter to the stereotype that the poor are lazy by having them interact with a low-status (versus average-status) status confederate. I found that the cross-status interaction led to a decrease in dispositional attributions for poverty which in turn decreased support for economic inequality. In Study 3b I conducted a high-powered pre-registered replication which strengthened the design of the previous study and largely replicated these results. Lastly, in Study 4, in order to determine the specificity of relationship between causal attributions and support for economic inequality I conducted a field quasi-experiment in undergraduates enrolled in various introductory psychology classes. I compared attributions for poverty and support for economic inequality over the course of a semester in students who were taking a class that explicitly highlights the situational causes of behaviour versus a series of classes without this explicit framing. I found that taking a course centred around demonstrating the impact situational factors have in influencing behaviour did not shift support for economic inequality relative to students in various control classes. Overall, this dissertation presents the first experiments showing how attributions for poverty can shape broader economic attitudes, such as support for economic inequality and how various simple and low-cost interventions can be leveraged to promote greater social equality.