People have been paying a lot of attention to economic inequality—some people have more, some people have less—and whether that gap between people has gotten too large. One piece of this conversation points out how the system is rigged—some people not only have more, but this gap between the haves and the have-nots has been growing through unfair means. For example, being connected to a wealthy family member can give one a leg up in college admissions or the labor market. Likewise, inherited wealth gives folks advantages or special treatment in a range of contexts.
What happens when we start to expose this rigged system? It turns out, the better off are quite sensitive to this kind of evidence, and they work hard to cover it up. For instance, in a series of experiments, we asked those benefiting from class privilege (as an example, those from households in the top 10% of incomes) to read newspaper articles or other information about the unfair advantages their wealth gets them: Things like better treatment from doctors and hospitals, or easier access to getting a job, based only on their wealthy or elite status (not their skills or qualifications). Those who read this evidence were more likely to say their lives were hard and they had suffered, compared to similar participants who were not given the evidence. In another experiment, we found that privileged people, when reminded of their privilege, also exaggerated how many hours they work at their jobs.
But why do the wealthy react this way? Our research finds that this defensive reaction is motivated by people wanting to think they are a good person—specifically, a person of high merit. Especially in a society that valorizes the idea of meritocracy, being a good person can become synonymous with being a merited person—someone who works hard for what they have. Thus, when those benefiting from class privileges have to face that privilege directly, they experience dissonance between their sense of being a good, merited person, and evidence that they have had unfair class advantages.
To resolve this tension, the wealthy cover up their advantages by referencing the logic of meritocracy specifically, using symbols like working hours or struggling to try to feel like they are a good person. And they make these claims even though these do not counteract the unfair advantages they are also receiving. For instance, working hard at your job doesn’t mean that nepotism or inherited wealth hasn’t also helped you; and yet, our participants used these hardship claims to try to deny they had benefited from class privilege.
Ultimately, these meritocracy narratives can help cover up the rigged parts of the system. This speaks to an important idea often talked about alongside privilege—the idea that privilege is invisible. But how does privilege become invisible? This isn’t an inherent feature of privilege or even an accident. Our research suggests privilege becomes invisible because people work to cover it up, using those symbols of meritocracy as an invisibility cloak, so to speak.
However, there are ways to break through this defensive reaction. If we help people feel they are a good person first, then they are more willing to recognize their unfair advantages and less likely to try to cover these up when we show them the evidence. In one experiment, we let people reflect on a time they had worked hard to achieve something. In another experiment, we let people reflect on the personal values they hold dear. In both cases, this helps people feel like they are a good person overall, and makes them more open to acknowledging the ways in which the wealth they have may be giving them unfair advantages. As a result, this might help the wealthy be more willing to support actions to reduce those unfair advantages—or unrig the system, so to speak. For instance, they may be more willing to support higher taxation for the wealthy or on inherited wealth, or more willing to ban legacy policies for college admissions.
Even when faced with direct evidence of our own advantages, it can be hard to admit that these have helped us get a leg up over others. One way we can help others and ourselves recognize reality is reminding ourselves that privilege and hard work (talent, merit, effort, etc.) are not either-or: we might have worked hard and benefited from unfair advantages, too. And if we can recognize that fact, the next step to feeling like a good person might be to help unrig the system that gave us those unfair benefits.
For Further Reading
Phillips, L. T., & Lowery, B. S. (2020). I ain’t no fortunate one: On the motivated denial of class privilege. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 119(6), 1403–1422. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspi0000240
Knowles, E. D., & Lowery, B. S. (2012). Meritocracy, self-concerns, and Whites' denial of racial inequity. Self and Identity, 11(2), 202-222. https://doi.org/10.1080/15298868.2010.542015
McCoy, S. K., & Major, B. (2007). Priming meritocracy and the psychological justification of inequality. Journal of experimental social psychology, 43(3), 341-351. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2006.04.009
L. Taylor Phillips is an assistant professor of Management & Organizations at New York University Stern School of Business. She studies beliefs about inequity, especially how people think about privilege and advantage.
Money and Status Fever in an Unequal World
