The Cost of Inequality: How Does Economic Inequality Catalyze Unethical Behavior

A large number of studies have shown that economic inequality, as a macro social environmental factor, has a significant impact on individual's unethical behavior, but its psychological mechanisms have not been well understood. Based on the existing literature, this paper proposes a three-level model in which economic inequality affects unethical behavior through societal (e.g., immoral and competitive normative climates), interpersonal (e.g., relative deprivation, risk-seeking tendency), and intrapersonal (e.g., perceptions of unfairness, moral disengagement) psychological process. Visibility of inequality, socioeconomic status, power, attributions for inequality, system-justifying beliefs, descriptive framework of inequality may moderate the relationship between economic inequality and unethical behavior. The three-level model helps us understand the mechanisms by which economic inequality affects unethical behavior, and provides a framework for future research on the impact of economic inequality on people's psychology and behaviors. Future research should further explore the potential differences in the impact of subjective and objective economic inequality on unethical behavior, as well as the potential differences in the effects of economic inequality on various types of unethical behavior. It is also necessary to explore other potential explanatory mechanisms and moderating factors, and to conduct cross-cultural studies on the subsequent effects of economic inequality.