Why a group-level analysis is essential for effective public policy: The case for a g-frame.

Societal problems are not solved by individualistic interventions, but nor are systemic approaches optimal given their neglect of the social psychology underpinning group dynamics. This impasse can be addressed through a -level analysis (a "g-frame") that social identity theorizing affords. Using a g-frame can make policy interventions more adaptive, inclusive, and engaging.

The Language of Inequality: Evidence Economic Inequality Increases Wealth Category Salience.

There is evidence that in more economically unequal societies, social relations are more strained. We argue that this may reflect the tendency for wealth to become a more fitting lens for seeing the world, so that in economically more unequal circumstances, people more readily divide the world into "the haves" and "have nots." Our argument is supported by archival and experimental evidence.

Prosperous But Fearful of Falling: The Wealth Paradox, Collective Angst, and Opposition to Immigration.

Building on growing evidence that relative economic gratification may be associated with prejudice toward minorities, such as immigrants, the question remains when and why prosperity and wealth may enhance opposition to immigration. In a correlational study (Study 1, = 498), we show that increased fear of falling in the future (individually or collectively) is associated with greater opposition to immigration. We then experimentally studied the effects of potential (Study 2, = 294) and actual (Study 3, = 166) downward mobility among the relatively wealthy, as well as of relatively stagnating wealthy in the context where an initially poorer group is quickly gaining wealth over time (Study 4, = 151).

"Our Country Needs a Strong Leader Right Now": Economic Inequality Enhances the Wish for a Strong Leader.

Societal inequality has been found to harm the mental and physical health of its members and undermine overall social cohesion. Here, we tested the hypothesis that economic inequality is associated with a wish for a strong leader in a study involving 28 countries from five continents (Study 1, = 6,112), a study involving an Australian community sample (Study 2, = 515), and two experiments (Study 3a, = 96; Study 3b, = 296). We found correlational (Studies 1 and 2) and experimental (Studies 3a and 3b) evidence for our prediction that higher inequality enhances the wish for a strong leader.

A social identity analysis of responses to economic inequality.

Even though there is growing awareness that economic inequality is harmful for people's health, the way that such inequality affects social behavior and political attitudes remains poorly understood. Moving beyond a focus on the health and well-being costs of income inequality, we review research that examines how economic inequality shapes dynamics between groups within societies, addressing the questions why, when, and for whom inequality affects social behavior and political attitudes. On the basis of classic social identity theorizing, we develop five hypotheses that focus on the way inequality shapes the fit of wealth categorizations (H1), intergroup relations (H2), and stereotypes about wealth groups (H3).

Relative Deprivation and Relative Wealth Enhances Anti-Immigrant Sentiments: The V-Curve Re-Examined.

Previous research has shown that negative attitudes towards immigrants and support for anti-immigrant parties are observed both among those experiencing relative deprivation and those experiencing relative gratification (so called v-curve). Whereas the effect of relative deprivation is intuitive, the effect of relative gratification is more difficult to explain. Why would economic prosperity provoke negative attitudes towards immigrants? We first present correlational (Study 1) and experimental (Study 2) support for the v-curve.