Changing by Talking: An Experimental Analysis of How Structured Interventions Around Inequality can Change our Beliefs and Behaviors

Inequality remains a critical global issue, with wealth and income inequality increasing worldwide, especially in regions like Latin America. Research suggests that people’s beliefs shape the persistence of inequality, and that social context and social interactions, in turn, influence beliefs. This paper examines how externally structured social interactions and reflections upon inequality can alter beliefs about inequality, as well as distributive choices. We pre-registered and conducted a field experiment in which participants were randomly assigned to treatments involving one-on-one conversations framed optimistically or pessimistically, or to a guided self-reflection using visual aids and prompts. Comparisons across structured intervention formats reveal post treatment differences in belief and behavioral change, although the differences across treatments are not statistically significant. Nonetheless, further exploration of the data suggests that one-on-one conversations under an optimistic framing, can be particularly effective in triggering optimistic beliefs about the potential of changing inequality. The extent of our effects appears to be bounded by the specific sample composition of our study participants, who exhibited high ex-ante levels of concern about inequality as well as highly prosocial distributive choices. These insights invite future research with broader types of participants (potentially more skeptical) to assess the potential of deliberation and other structured interventions in generating sustained belief and behavioural change around inequalities.