Subjective socioeconomic status and income inequality are associated with self-reported morality across 67 countries

Individuals can experience a lack of economic resources compared to others, referred to as subjective experiences of economic scarcity. While such experiences have been shown to shift cognitive focus, attention, and decision-making, their association with human morality remains debated. This pre-registered study analyzes data from a large, cross-national survey (N = 50,396 across 67 countries) to examine relationships between subjective socioeconomic status (SES) at the individual level, income inequality (GINI) at the national level, and multiple self-reported measures linked to morality. Findings show that lower subjective SES and higher national income inequality are associated with higher moral identity, higher morality-as-cooperation, a larger moral circle, and increased prosocial intentions. Results are robust to advanced control analyses. Exploratory analyses indicate that national income inequality does not significantly moderate the associations between subjective SES and morality measures. The findings have theoretical and practical implications for understanding human morality under experiences of resource scarcity.

Christian T. Elbæk, Panagiotis Mitkidis, Lene Aarøe, Tobias Otterbring