Inequality Preferences Reveal Hidden Disagreement

Political Behavior @PSR&M 4 Stata files Dataverse

New survey data from 40 countries and experiments in the US challenge

> Descriptive Representation

A widely used cross-national measure of ideal inequality (Ideal Pay Ratios) masks deep public disagreement.
This apparent agreement stems largely from perceptual biases: anchoring effect and ratio bias.
These cognitive distortions overshadow political predispositions in shaping perceived inequality levels.

> Attitudinal Measurement

The study shows how standard survey methods yield misleading results about economic preferences.

Article card for article: Attitudes toward Economic Inequality: The Illusory Agreement

Attitudes toward Economic Inequality: The Illusory Agreement was authored by Rasmus T. Pedersen and Diana Mutz. It was published by Cambridge in PSR&M in 2019.