Beware of the ‘Bad Guys’: Economic Inequality, Perceived Competition, and Social Vigilance

Previous studies have shown that economic inequality is associated with macrosocial outcomes and psychological processes. However, the role of economic inequality in social cognition is poorly understood. In this article, we propose that perceived economic inequality increases social vigilance. Thre...

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Main Authors:	Lei Cheng, Mingyang Hao, Fang Wang
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Ubiquity Press 2021-04-01
Series:	International Review of Social Psychology
Subjects:	economic inequality social vigilance perceived competition social cognition
Online Access:	https://www.rips-irsp.com/articles/497

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spelling	doaj-c531609419d340e48f1000a187d396b72021-05-10T07:45:17ZengUbiquity PressInternational Review of Social Psychology2397-85702021-04-0134110.5334/irsp.497113Beware of the ‘Bad Guys’: Economic Inequality, Perceived Competition, and Social VigilanceLei Cheng0Mingyang Hao1Fang Wang2Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, BeijingBeijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, BeijingBeijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, BeijingPrevious studies have shown that economic inequality is associated with macrosocial outcomes and psychological processes. However, the role of economic inequality in social cognition is poorly understood. In this article, we propose that perceived economic inequality increases social vigilance. Three experiments were conducted to examine this idea by manipulating the perception of economic inequality. The results revealed that participants in high-inequality environments exhibited higher levels of social vigilance than in low-inequality environments. Furthermore, perceived competition could mediate the link between economic inequality and social vigilance (Experiments 2–3). The findings expand the literature regarding the effect of economic inequality on social cognition and help people better understand the consequences of economic inequality.https://www.rips-irsp.com/articles/497economic inequalitysocial vigilanceperceived competitionsocial cognition
collection	DOAJ
language	English
format	Article
sources	DOAJ
author	Lei Cheng Mingyang Hao Fang Wang
spellingShingle	Lei Cheng Mingyang Hao Fang Wang Beware of the ‘Bad Guys’: Economic Inequality, Perceived Competition, and Social Vigilance International Review of Social Psychology economic inequality social vigilance perceived competition social cognition
author_facet	Lei Cheng Mingyang Hao Fang Wang
author_sort	Lei Cheng
title	Beware of the ‘Bad Guys’: Economic Inequality, Perceived Competition, and Social Vigilance
title_short	Beware of the ‘Bad Guys’: Economic Inequality, Perceived Competition, and Social Vigilance
title_full	Beware of the ‘Bad Guys’: Economic Inequality, Perceived Competition, and Social Vigilance
title_fullStr	Beware of the ‘Bad Guys’: Economic Inequality, Perceived Competition, and Social Vigilance
title_full_unstemmed	Beware of the ‘Bad Guys’: Economic Inequality, Perceived Competition, and Social Vigilance
title_sort	beware of the ‘bad guys’: economic inequality, perceived competition, and social vigilance
publisher	Ubiquity Press
series	International Review of Social Psychology
issn	2397-8570
publishDate	2021-04-01
description	Previous studies have shown that economic inequality is associated with macrosocial outcomes and psychological processes. However, the role of economic inequality in social cognition is poorly understood. In this article, we propose that perceived economic inequality increases social vigilance. Three experiments were conducted to examine this idea by manipulating the perception of economic inequality. The results revealed that participants in high-inequality environments exhibited higher levels of social vigilance than in low-inequality environments. Furthermore, perceived competition could mediate the link between economic inequality and social vigilance (Experiments 2–3). The findings expand the literature regarding the effect of economic inequality on social cognition and help people better understand the consequences of economic inequality.
topic	economic inequality social vigilance perceived competition social cognition
url	https://www.rips-irsp.com/articles/497
work_keys_str_mv	AT leicheng bewareofthebadguyseconomicinequalityperceivedcompetitionandsocialvigilance AT mingyanghao bewareofthebadguyseconomicinequalityperceivedcompetitionandsocialvigilance AT fangwang bewareofthebadguyseconomicinequalityperceivedcompetitionandsocialvigilance
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Beware of the ‘Bad Guys’: Economic Inequality, Perceived Competition, and Social Vigilance

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