Bachelorthesis Martin Lund Trinhammer Spring 2019 WHAT DO THE DANES KNOW ABOUT INEQUALITY? REVIVING AN OLD, BUT UNRESOLVED, DEBATE FROM ACROSS THE ATLANTIC BACHELORTHESIS 27. May 2019 Bachelorthesis Characters 58.528/60.000 Spring 2019 Abstract Recently, a prominent Danish union boasted that the level of inequality in Denmark has become obscene (3F, 2019). To contribute with scientific, evidence-based conclusions to the above statement, this thesis will attempt to explore how the Danish population truly assess and prefer the distribution of wealth in Denmark. The results indicate a preference among the Danish respondents to reside in a country that is generally more equal, than the one they believe to reside in, a finding that has been supported by comparable research on different populations. Additionally, in opposition with common beliefs and relevant theoretical contributions, this thesis finds a range of similarities between how Danes and Americans assess and prefer the distribution of wealth in their respective countries. Lastly, recommendations for future research is presented. 1 Bachelorthesis Characters 58.528/60.000 Spring 2019 Content Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................. 1 Content .............................................................................................................................................................. 2 List of figures ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 4 Previous findings ............................................................................................................................................... 5 Perceptions of inequality ............................................................................................................................... 5 Gender differences ........................................................................................................................................ 9 Fairness .......................................................................................................................................................... 9 Fairness in experimental settings ............................................................................................................ 10 Fairness, inequality and mobility ............................................................................................................. 10 Method ............................................................................................................................................................ 12 Research participants .................................................................................................................................. 12 The questionnaire ........................................................................................................................................ 13 1. part .................................................................................................................................................. 14 2. part .................................................................................................................................................. 15 3. part .................................................................................................................................................. 16 Data analysis ................................................................................................................................................ 16 Results and Discussion ..................................................................................................................................... 16 Background information .............................................................................................................................. 16 Ideal distribution for Danish respondents – results and discussion............................................................ 17 Comparing Danes to Americans – results and discussion ........................................................................... 19 Comparing Danes to Americans – the ideal society ................................................................................ 21 Differences in gender for Danish respondents – results and discussion .................................................... 23 Qualitative part on fairness – results and discussion .................................................................................. 24 Equal opportunity .................................................................................................................................... 25 Inequality aversion and meritocracy ....................................................................................................... 26 Social mobility.......................................................................................................................................... 26 Overlap between constructs?.................................................................................................................. 26 General Discussion and recommendations for future research ..................................................................... 27 Methodological considerations ................................................................................................................... 27 Difficulty with large numbers .................................................................................................................. 27 Substitution of questions & heuristics .................................................................................................... 27 2 Bachelorthesis Characters 58.528/60.000 Spring 2019 Methodological considerations for future research ............................................................................... 28 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................... 29 References ....................................................................................................................................................... 31 List of figures Figure 1: Actual, estimated and ideal distribution of wealth. Norton and Ariely (2011). Percentage. American respondents. Figure 2: Actual, estimated and ideal distribution of wealth. Norton, Neal, Govan and Ariely (2014). Percentage. Australian respondents. Figure 3: Estimated and actual percentage of population in different income groups. Chambers, Swan and Heesacker (2014). Percentage. American respondents. Figure 4: Median, average and ratio for distribution of wealth in top and bottom quintile. Eriksson and Simpson (2012). American respondents. Figure 5: Influence of societal mobility on a range of outcomes. Shariz, Wiwad and Aknin (2016). Sign. differences. American respondents. Figure 6: Graphical illustration included in survey used in this study. Figure 7: Estimated and ideal distribution of wealth. This study. Average. Danish respondents. Figure 8: Estimated and ideal distribution of wealth. The top 20% quintile. This study and Eriksson and Simpsons (2012). Danish and American respondents. Figure 9: Estimated and ideal distribution of wealth. The bottom 20% quintile. This study and Eriksson and Simpsons (2012). Danish and American respondents. Figure 10: Significant differences between female and male estimates. This study. Figure 11: Significant differences between female and male ideals. This study. 3 Bachelorthesis Characters 58.528/60.000 Spring 2019 Introduction Of the many issues facing contemporary society, inequality was outlined by former American President Barack Obama as “the defining challenge of our time” (Obama, 2014). Surely, the level of inequality has received considerable attention in recent years, ranging from protest movements like Occupy Wall Street to leading academics in economy (Piketty, 2013) and psychology (Pinker, 2018). These authors seem to agree that the level of inequality is indeed rising in Western societies, when measured by, for instance, the Gini-Coefficient. However, scholars in psychology consistently find great discrepancies between the actual level of inequality, and the estimated level of inequality by Western populations (Norton and Ariely, 2011; Chambers, Swan and Heesacker, 2014; Arsensio, 2018). Thus, a primary concern for political psychology and behavioral economics in the 21st century, should be to establish the level of knowledge on inequality among Western populations. After all, people’s perceptions of wealth distribution, rather than the true distribution, is what determines their conceptions of the issue (Tyler, 2011). To the knowledge of this author, no previous research has attempted to account for the perceptions of wealth distribution among Danish respondents. This study aims to redeem this omission in reserach, by contributing with results from a Danish sample. To assist this, the following research question has been formulated: What are the Danes’ assessment and preferences on the wealth distribution in Denmark, and how can their assessment and preferences be explained by relevant research? To answer this question,