A Framing-Effect-Based Analysis of Income Inequality Perceptions

Income inequality is one of the greatest problems of our time, and what can be done to solve this problem is still under debate. Indeed, income distribution began to deteriorate especially after the industrial revolution. In particular, the fact that a small minority of the world's population receives a large portion of the world's income and wealth is truly a matter that needs to be discussed. At this point, for the discussion to be healthier and reach a solution, it may be necessary for the majority to share the same view. However, due to changing perceptions, the importance of the income inequality problem may be perceived differently. From this perspective, the behavioural economics school emerges, which argues that our perceptions can be distorted by the influence of psychology in perceptual processes. The psychological effects put forward by this school are generally referred to as biases, and perhaps the most popular of these biases is the framing effect. According to this effect, when the same situation is presented differently, the perceived reality may differ. In this study, the perception of income inequality was examined in the context of the framing effect. To test this perception, a questionnaire was designed, and participants were asked to answer numerical and verbal questions with the same meaning. The results obtained from the study show that the way income inequality is conveyed leads to perceptual differences and that the use of the framing effect could be an important tool in minimising potential income inequality problems.