Method

Participants were told that the median income is 56k/year. Then, they were asked to estimate the following characteristics for a person earning that 56k/year and for a person earning 560k/year: hard-working, talented, lucky, skilled, has strong work ethic. The scale ranged from 1 (Extremely Uncharacteristic) to 7 (Extremely Characteristic).

We created two composite scores: hard working (mean of hard-working and has strong work ethic) and talented (mean of talented and skilled).

Participants also completed two redistribution measures: One is an 11-item support for redistributive policy scale, and the other is a taxation policy measure (per tax bracket).

The order of all blocks was counterbalanced.

Demographics

Race

race N Perc
asian 15 7.5
black 35 17.5
hispanic 7 3.5
multiracial 14 7.0
white 126 63.0
NA 3 1.5

Gender

gender N Perc
man 106 53
woman 92 46
NA 2 1

Education

edu N Perc
GED 38 19.0
2yearColl 25 12.5
4yearColl 95 47.5
MA 31 15.5
PHD 10 5.0
NA 1 0.5

Income

Age

m sd
38.57789 11.25969

Political ideology

Measures

Characteristics

Internal consistency

For 56k: hard-working and strong work ethic are correlated at r = 0.801

For 56k: talented and skilled are correlated at r = 0.68

For 560k: hard-working and strong work ethic are correlated at r = 0.764

For 560k: talented and skilled are correlated at r = 0.776

Distribution

Item-by-item: work and talent

Support for Redistributive Policy

Participants indicated their agreement with the following items:

1. High incomes should be taxed more than is currently the case.
2. The government should increase taxes to give more help to the poor.
3. We should resist the demands for more benefits from people on welfare. (R)
4. In politics, one should strive to assure similar income levels for everyone, regardless of education and employment.
5. The government should intervene economically to redistribute wealth from those who have more resources to those who have fewer resources.
6. The government spends too much money on the unemployed. (R)
7. Wealth should be taken from the rich and given to the poor.
8. Wealthy people should not be taxed more heavily than others. (R)
9. The wealthy should give more money to those who are worse off.
10. It is not fair that people have to pay taxes to fund welfare programs. (R)
11. Inequality in the distribution of wealth is unjust.

Internal Consistency

Cronbach’s alpha = 0.93

Distribution

Tax Policy

Participants were shown the 7 federal tax income brackets:
1. Under 10,275
2. 10,275-41,775
3. 41,775-89,075
4. 89,075-170,050
5. 170,050-215,950
6. 215,950-539,900
7. Over $539,900

For each income bracket, participants indicate whether they think the tax rate should be lower (-1), stay the same (0), or be higher (1)

Distribution

Analysis

Correlations of charateristics

Difference in attribution of characteristics by income

char income m sd
luck 56k 3.8950 1.350219
luck 560k 5.3100 1.518363
talent 56k 4.9000 1.087850
talent 560k 5.3025 1.296398
work 56k 5.3875 1.090661
work 560k 5.1850 1.367525


Luck: t(199) = -12.82, p < .001, d = -0.91
Talent: t(199) = -3.88, p < .001, d = -0.27
Hard Work: t(199) = 1.92, p = .056, d = 0.14

Order effects

Some participants rated the median income (56k) first and others rated the high income(560k) first. Let’s see if there’s an order effect (medfirst = 1 indicates that they saw the median first).

medfirst char income m sd
0 luck 56k 3.831683 1.3716363
0 luck 560k 5.099010 1.5199010
0 talent 56k 4.836634 0.9851622
0 talent 560k 5.198020 1.3097313
0 work 56k 5.301980 1.0655496
0 work 560k 5.133663 1.3131852
1 luck 56k 3.959596 1.3318638
1 luck 560k 5.525252 1.4938202
1 talent 56k 4.964646 1.1850526
1 talent 560k 5.409091 1.2804727
1 work 56k 5.474748 1.1143172
1 work 560k 5.237374 1.4256102

Characteristics -> redistribution

Linear models

(#tab:unnamed-chunk-26)
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept 5.51 [4.50, 6.52] 10.80 192 < .001
Work 56k 0.13 [-0.06, 0.33] 1.35 192 .177
Talent 56k -0.05 [-0.24, 0.15] -0.48 192 .631
Luck 56k 0.04 [-0.08, 0.17] 0.70 192 .487
Work 560k -0.19 [-0.39, 0.02] -1.82 192 .070
Talent 560k 0.02 [-0.20, 0.24] 0.14 192 .887
Luck 560k 0.18 [0.06, 0.29] 2.93 192 .004
Ideo econ -0.41 [-0.49, -0.32] -9.53 192 < .001
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-27)
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept 3.89 [2.74, 5.04] 6.68 193 < .001
Work 56k 0.14 [-0.09, 0.38] 1.20 193 .231
Talent 56k -0.03 [-0.26, 0.21] -0.23 193 .817
Luck 56k -0.02 [-0.17, 0.14] -0.20 193 .843
Work 560k -0.31 [-0.56, -0.07] -2.52 193 .012
Talent 560k -0.03 [-0.29, 0.24] -0.20 193 .842
Luck 560k 0.36 [0.23, 0.50] 5.32 193 < .001
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-28)
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept 5.15 [4.02, 6.28] 8.98 195 < .001
Work 56k 0.25 [0.00, 0.50] 2.01 195 .046
Talent 56k -0.06 [-0.30, 0.19] -0.47 195 .640
Work 560k -0.43 [-0.69, -0.17] -3.25 195 .001
Talent 560k 0.12 [-0.16, 0.40] 0.83 195 .408
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-29)
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept 5.92 [5.09, 6.74] 14.13 197 < .001
Work 560k -0.43 [-0.69, -0.17] -3.23 197 .001
Talent 560k 0.18 [-0.10, 0.46] 1.27 197 .207
Call:
lm(formula = r edist ~ work_560k + talen t_560k, data = df_merit)

Residuals: Min 1Q Median 3Q Max -4.0342 -0.8299 0.0299 0.9882 2.8489

Coefficients: Estimate Std. Error t value Pr(>|t|)
(Intercept) 5.9173 0.4187 14.134 < 2e-16 * work_560k -0.4308 0.1335 -3.226 0.00147 talent_560k 0.1785 0.1409 1.267 0.20656
— Signif. codes: 0 ‘’ 0.001 ’’ 0.01 ’’ 0.05 ‘.’ 0.1 ’ ’ 1

Residual standard error: 1.387 on 197 degrees of freedom Multiple R-squared: 0.08235, Adjusted R-squared: 0.07304 F-statistic: 8.84 on 2 and 197 DF, p-value: 0.0002106

(#tab:unnamed-chunk-30)
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept 6.37 [5.45, 7.29] 13.67 194 < .001
Work 56k 0.17 [-0.02, 0.37] 1.74 194 .084
Talent 56k -0.04 [-0.23, 0.15] -0.40 194 .688
Work 560k -0.22 [-0.43, -0.01] -2.11 194 .036
Talent 560k 0.08 [-0.14, 0.30] 0.74 194 .460
Ideo econ -0.45 [-0.54, -0.37] -10.93 194 < .001

Characteristics -> tax policy

(#tab:unnamed-chunk-32) bracket_1
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept -0.63 [-1.07, -0.19] -2.81 194 .005
Work 56k -0.08 [-0.18, 0.01] -1.73 194 .085
Talent 56k 0.04 [-0.05, 0.13] 0.86 194 .392
Work 560k 0.11 [0.01, 0.21] 2.14 194 .033
Talent 560k -0.11 [-0.21, 0.00] -1.97 194 .051
Ideo econ 0.06 [0.02, 0.10] 3.06 194 .003
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-33) bracket_1
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept -0.46 [-0.90, -0.03] -2.10 195 .037
Work 56k -0.09 [-0.19, 0.00] -1.92 195 .056
Talent 56k 0.04 [-0.05, 0.14] 0.89 195 .373
Work 560k 0.14 [0.04, 0.24] 2.67 195 .008
Talent 560k -0.11 [-0.22, 0.00] -2.01 195 .046
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-34) bracket_2
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept -0.48 [-0.95, -0.01] -2.00 194 .047
Work 56k -0.12 [-0.22, -0.01] -2.23 194 .027
Talent 56k 0.07 [-0.03, 0.17] 1.35 194 .178
Work 560k 0.02 [-0.09, 0.12] 0.30 194 .765
Talent 560k -0.04 [-0.16, 0.07] -0.77 194 .440
Ideo econ 0.09 [0.05, 0.13] 4.11 194 < .001
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-35) bracket_2
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept -0.24 [-0.72, 0.23] -1.01 195 .316
Work 56k -0.13 [-0.24, -0.03] -2.44 195 .016
Talent 56k 0.07 [-0.03, 0.17] 1.37 195 .172
Work 560k 0.06 [-0.05, 0.17] 1.00 195 .316
Talent 560k -0.05 [-0.17, 0.07] -0.86 195 .393
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-36) bracket_3
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept -0.20 [-0.68, 0.29] -0.80 194 .426
Work 56k -0.08 [-0.19, 0.02] -1.59 194 .114
Talent 56k 0.03 [-0.07, 0.13] 0.61 194 .541
Work 560k 0.00 [-0.11, 0.11] 0.05 194 .961
Talent 560k 0.00 [-0.11, 0.12] 0.04 194 .969
Ideo econ 0.01 [-0.03, 0.06] 0.61 194 .545
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-37) bracket_3
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept -0.16 [-0.63, 0.31] -0.67 195 .502
Work 56k -0.09 [-0.19, 0.02] -1.64 195 .103
Talent 56k 0.03 [-0.07, 0.13] 0.62 195 .533
Work 560k 0.01 [-0.10, 0.12] 0.16 195 .874
Talent 560k 0.00 [-0.12, 0.12] 0.02 195 .982
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-38) bracket_4
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept 0.06 [-0.43, 0.55] 0.26 194 .795
Work 56k -0.01 [-0.12, 0.09] -0.22 194 .827
Talent 56k -0.06 [-0.16, 0.05] -1.08 194 .281
Work 560k -0.02 [-0.13, 0.09] -0.31 194 .756
Talent 560k 0.11 [-0.01, 0.22] 1.78 194 .077
Ideo econ -0.06 [-0.11, -0.02] -2.81 194 .005
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-39) bracket_4
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept -0.10 [-0.59, 0.38] -0.42 195 .678
Work 56k 0.00 [-0.11, 0.11] -0.01 195 .990
Talent 56k -0.06 [-0.16, 0.05] -1.11 195 .268
Work 560k -0.05 [-0.16, 0.07] -0.81 195 .420
Talent 560k 0.11 [-0.01, 0.23] 1.83 195 .069
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-40) bracket_5
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept 0.36 [-0.18, 0.90] 1.32 194 .187
Work 56k 0.06 [-0.06, 0.17] 0.99 194 .323
Talent 56k -0.06 [-0.17, 0.06] -1.00 194 .318
Work 560k -0.14 [-0.26, -0.01] -2.17 194 .031
Talent 560k 0.18 [0.05, 0.31] 2.78 194 .006
Ideo econ -0.11 [-0.16, -0.06] -4.42 194 < .001
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-41) bracket_5
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept 0.07 [-0.47, 0.62] 0.27 195 .791
Work 56k 0.08 [-0.04, 0.20] 1.26 195 .209
Talent 56k -0.06 [-0.18, 0.06] -1.03 195 .304
Work 560k -0.18 [-0.31, -0.06] -2.87 195 .005
Talent 560k 0.19 [0.06, 0.33] 2.78 195 .006
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-42) bracket_6
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept 0.78 [0.27, 1.29] 3.01 194 .003
Work 56k 0.11 [0.00, 0.22] 1.94 194 .054
Talent 56k -0.07 [-0.17, 0.04] -1.23 194 .221
Work 560k -0.08 [-0.19, 0.04] -1.33 194 .185
Talent 560k 0.08 [-0.04, 0.20] 1.27 194 .205
Ideo econ -0.12 [-0.17, -0.08] -5.36 194 < .001
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-43) bracket_6
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept 0.45 [-0.08, 0.98] 1.66 195 .098
Work 56k 0.13 [0.01, 0.25] 2.19 195 .030
Talent 56k -0.07 [-0.19, 0.04] -1.24 195 .218
Work 560k -0.13 [-0.26, -0.01] -2.17 195 .031
Talent 560k 0.09 [-0.04, 0.22] 1.33 195 .184
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-44) bracket_7
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept 0.91 [0.44, 1.37] 3.86 194 < .001
Work 56k 0.09 [-0.01, 0.19] 1.80 194 .074
Talent 56k -0.07 [-0.17, 0.03] -1.45 194 .150
Work 560k -0.12 [-0.22, -0.01] -2.17 194 .031
Talent 560k 0.14 [0.03, 0.25] 2.52 194 .013
Ideo econ -0.13 [-0.17, -0.09] -6.36 194 < .001
(#tab:unnamed-chunk-45) bracket_7
Predictor \(b\) 95% CI \(t\) \(\mathit{df}\) \(p\)
Intercept 0.55 [0.06, 1.04] 2.20 195 .029
Work 56k 0.11 [0.01, 0.22] 2.07 195 .040
Talent 56k -0.08 [-0.18, 0.03] -1.42 195 .157
Work 560k -0.18 [-0.29, -0.06] -3.06 195 .003
Talent 560k 0.15 [0.03, 0.28] 2.46 195 .015

Ideology -> Characteristics

Income -> Characteristics