How fair is economic inequality? Belief in a just world and the legitimation of economic disparities in 27 European countries

• Autor(a) principal: García-Sánchez, E.
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Outros Autores: Correia, I., Pereira, C., Willis, G. B., Rodríguez-Bailón, R., Vala, J.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/23421
• topic: Belief in a just world; Blaming the poor; Economic inequality; European Social Survey; Legitimation of inequalities

This article aims to examine the role of Belief in a Just World (BJW) in the legitimation of economic inequality. Using data from 27 European countries (N=47,086), we conducted multilevel analyses and found that BJW positively predicted the legitimation of economic inequality, measured by three indicators: the perceived fairness of the overall wealth inequality, and the fairness of the earnings made by the Top 10% and the Bottom 10% of society. These results persisted after controlling for individual- and country-level variables. Moreover, the BJW effect was stronger on the legitimation of the Bottom 10% incomes, compared to the legitimation of the Top 10%. We also found that economic inequality at the country-level reduced the BJW effect on legitimation of inequality. Finally, BJW displayed a negative indirect effect on support for redistribution, via the legitimation of economic inequalities.