Socioeconomic stereotypes are powerful predictors of Americans’ desire to raise or lower taxes on the wealthy

The issue of whether or not the rich should pay more in tax is a divisive one in American politics. But what determines people’s attitudes towards tax policies of this sort? In new research, Jordan Ragusa finds that people’s stereotypes about the rich have a major influence over whether they feel that they should be taxed more or less. He writes that those that say that the rich “work hard” and are “job producers” want lower taxes on the wealthy, while those who said the rich became wealthy because of an “inheritance” and are “selfish”, want higher taxes. Notably, the powerful effect of stereotypes exists even when taking into consideration an individual’s personal wealth and political ideology.