Subjective socioeconomic status and income inequality are associated with self-reported morality across 67 countries

TY - JOUR

T1 - Subjective socioeconomic status and income inequality are associated with self-reported morality across 67 countries

AU - Elbæk, Christian T.

AU - Mitkidis, Panagiotis

AU - Aarøe, Lene

AU - Otterbring, Tobias

PY - 2023/9

Y1 - 2023/9

N2 - Individuals can experience a lack of economic resources compared to others, which we refer to as subjective experiences of economic scarcity. While such experiences have been shown to shift cognitive focus, attention, and decision-making, their association with human morality remains debated. We conduct a comprehensive investigation of the relationship between subjective experiences of economic scarcity, as indexed by low subjective socioeconomic status at the individual level, and income inequality at the national level, and various self-reported measures linked to morality. In a pre-registered study, we analyze data from a large, cross-national survey (N = 50,396 across 67 countries) allowing us to address limitations related to cross-cultural generalizability and measurement validity in prior research. Our findings demonstrate that low subjective socioeconomic status at the individual level, and income inequality at the national level, are associated with higher levels of moral identity, higher morality-as-cooperation, a larger moral circle, and increased prosocial intentions. These results appear robust to several advanced control analyses. Finally, exploratory analyses indicate that observed income inequality at the national level is not a statistically significant moderator of the associations between subjective socioeconomic status and the included measures of morality. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for understanding human morality under experiences of resource scarcity.

AB - Individuals can experience a lack of economic resources compared to others, which we refer to as subjective experiences of economic scarcity. While such experiences have been shown to shift cognitive focus, attention, and decision-making, their association with human morality remains debated. We conduct a comprehensive investigation of the relationship between subjective experiences of economic scarcity, as indexed by low subjective socioeconomic status at the individual level, and income inequality at the national level, and various self-reported measures linked to morality. In a pre-registered study, we analyze data from a large, cross-national survey (N = 50,396 across 67 countries) allowing us to address limitations related to cross-cultural generalizability and measurement validity in prior research. Our findings demonstrate that low subjective socioeconomic status at the individual level, and income inequality at the national level, are associated with higher levels of moral identity, higher morality-as-cooperation, a larger moral circle, and increased prosocial intentions. These results appear robust to several advanced control analyses. Finally, exploratory analyses indicate that observed income inequality at the national level is not a statistically significant moderator of the associations between subjective socioeconomic status and the included measures of morality. These findings have theoretical and practical implications for understanding human morality under experiences of resource scarcity.

KW - Humans

KW - Income

KW - Low Socioeconomic Status

KW - Morals

KW - Self Report

KW - Social Class

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85169977164&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-023-41007-0

DO - 10.1038/s41467-023-41007-0

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 37673884

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 14

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

IS - 1

M1 - 5453

ER -