Economic Inequality Increases Negative Affect: Experimental Evidence

Economic inequality has been increasing as a global trend and has profound implications for subjective well-being. However, the affective dimension of subjective well-being remains relatively underexplored. The present research aimed to understand the psychological impact of economic inequality on individuals’ affect and the underlying mechanisms. We hypothesized that economic inequality would decrease positive affect and increase negative affect. Across three experimental studies ( N = 450), we found strong evidence that high economic inequality increased negative affect, but had no significant effect on positive affect. Moreover, we examined income as a moderating variable and found that income did not moderate the effects of economic inequality on either positive or negative affect (Studies 1 and 2). Regarding potential mechanisms, we focused on cognitive factors, as they represent the immediate psychological processes through which inequality-related information is interpreted and given meaning. Specifically, the present study examined three cognitive factors: system justification beliefs, social comparison, and attributions for inequality. The results showed that system justification beliefs explained the effects of economic inequality on both positive and negative affect, such that awareness of high economic inequality weakened system justification beliefs, which in turn elicited lower positive affect and stronger negative affect (Study 3). However, social comparison (Study 2) and attributions for inequality (Study 3) did not account for the effects of economic inequality on either positive or negative affect. These findings contribute to the literature by establishing the causal effect of economic inequality on negative affect and by identifying a mediating mechanism that accounts for the relationship between economic inequality and both positive and negative affect.