Dissertation

For Them, Not Me: Assessing the Role of Contact with Poor Friends and Family Members on Support for Redistribution

Abstract: To what extent does contact with poor friends and family members shape redistributive attitudes and preferences? Extant research on exposure to poverty yields conflicting results, suggesting that the extent of support for redistribution may vary depending upon the level at which one engages with the poor (i.e., impersonal vs. intimate). In addition, we do not yet know if the cause of a loved one’s poverty or financial distress (e.g., unemployment) affects the types of economic policies one supports, both in terms of its overarching influence as well as whether it engenders support only for policies that directly aid one’s friend or relative or catalyzes more favorable attitudes toward redistribution at large. Finally, I test subjective status comparisons and empathy as novel mechanisms driving the impact of close contact on greater redistributive support. Leveraging observational and experimental data, I find that close contact with loved ones in poverty increases support for some forms of redistribution, but that knowing the source of their distress does not extend to support for broader antipoverty proposals.

Publications

Newman, Benjamin J., Tyler T. Reny, and Bea-Sim Ooi. 2022. “The Color of Disparity: Racialized Income Inequality and Support for Liberal Economic Policies.” The Journal of Politics 84(3): 1817-1822.

Under review

“When Does Empathy for the Poor Shape Redistributive Preferences? Evidence from Two Perspective-Taking Experiments.”

Working papers

“Guilt by Affluence? Class Privilege, Personal Economic Standing, and Support for Redistribution.”

“Contact with Poor Friends and Family, Dimensions of Financial Distress, and Support for Redistribution.”