Researchers from the Social Psychology of Inequality Laboratory (http://wwwlocal.ugr.es/~psidesigualdad/) and the Psychology of Social Problems group (https://www.pps-ugr.es/) have adapted a scale to measure attitudes towards economic inequality in the Spanish population.
The 2030 Agenda has highlighted the reduction of inequality as a fundamental pillar for sustainable development (UN, 2015). It has also been pointed out that studying the attitudes that perpetuate differences in our society is a promising field aimed at decreasing existing inequality (García-Castro et al., 2020; Willis et al., 2022). Along these lines, research work has been conducted to adapt the Support for Economic Inequality Scale (S-SEIS; adapted from Wiwad et al., 2019) to Spanish. This tool assesses people's predisposition to have favorable attitudes toward economic inequality with items such as "The negative consequences of economic inequality have been greatly exaggerated." Results from two correlational studies (N1 = 619, N2 = 562) suggest that the S-SEIS is a valid and reliable instrument to measure support for economic inequality in Spanish samples and overcomes the problems of widely used single-item measures.
We also explored the relationship between support for economic inequality and other related constructs. In this sense, those who are more supportive of inequality and argue that people's economic position is a product of their achievements tend to be less critical of institutions and the functioning of democracy. In addition, agreement with perceived inequality is associated with a greater willingness to tolerate inequality in our environment and with less support for economic redistribution. In contrast, people who evaluate economic inequality negatively would be more inclined to seek measures to reduce it.
In summary, this study highlights the importance of measuring and understanding attitudes towards economic inequality, as they influence how we perceive the world around us and our actions to create a more egalitarian society.
Reference:
Montoya-Lozano, M., Moreno-Bella, E., García-Castro, J. D., Willis, G. B., & Rodríguez-Bailón, R. (2023). Spanish Adaptation of the Support for Economic Inequality Scale (S-SEIS). Psicothema, 35(3), 310-318. https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2022.226
Contact:
Mar Montoya-Lozano (@email)
Eva Moreno-Bella (@email)
Juan Diego García-Castro (@email)
Rosa Rodríguez-Bailón (@email)
Guillermo B. Willis (@email)