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Society often ascribes negative stereotypes to people experiencing homelessness. However, people experiencing homelessness have been found to display highly nuanced social behaviors. We employ a field dictator game to examine prosocial behavior among 173 unhoused individuals in Nashville, TN. We test whether an unhoused population displays ingroup bias, wherein they are more generous toward other people experiencing homelessness (the hypothesized ingroup) than people not experiencing homelessness (the hypothesized out-group). Additionally, we explore relationships between sociodemographic and personal characteristics (social support, perceptions of deservedness/generosity) and dictator game behavior. We did not observe ingroup bias. However, on average, participants allocated 29% of their game endowment to recipients, consistent with cross-cultural dictator game studies. We found that the duration of homelessness, social support, and gender were associated with dictator game allocations. Additionally, people experiencing homelessness were more generous when they perceived other unhoused individuals would be more generous and deserving.
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Economic system justification predicts muted emotional responses to inequality
Abstract Although humans display inequality aversion, many people appear to be untroubled by widespread economic disparities. We suggest that such indifference is partly attributable to a belief in the fairness of the capitalist system. Here we report six studies showing that economic ideology predicts self-reported and physiological responses to inequality. In Studies 1 and 2, participants who regard the economic system as justified, compared with those who do not, report feeling less negative emotion after watching videos depicting homelessness. In Studies 3–5, economic system justifiers exhibit low levels of negative affect, as indexed by activation of the corrugator supercilii muscle, and autonomic arousal, as indexed by skin conductance, while viewing people experiencing homelessness. In Study 6, which employs experience-sampling methodology, everyday exposure to rich and poor people elicits less negative emotion among system justifiers. These results provide the strongest evidence to date that system-justifying beliefs diminish aversion to inequality in economic contexts.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1729295
- PAR ID:
- 10154267
- Publisher / Repository:
- Nature Publishing Group
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Nature Communications
- Volume:
- 11
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2041-1723
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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