Figure 1
The hypothesized model.
Table 1
Standardized coefficients of the multilevel models estimating the effects of economic inequality on the meritocratic belief.
| DV: TIME 2 BELIEF IN MERITOCRACY – T2BIM | MODEL 2 | MODEL 3 | MODEL 5 | MODEL 6 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IV: TIME 1 VARIABLES | β | t | β | t | β | t | β | t | ||||
| Level 1 | ||||||||||||
| Perceived economic inequality – PEI | –.04 | –5.75** | –.04 | –5.74** | _ | _ | _ | _ | ||||
| Time 1 Belief in meritocracy – T1BIM | .26 | 14.17** | .27 | 14.02** | .27 | 34.24** | .27 | 34.21** | ||||
| Socioeconomic status – SES | .08 | 10.46** | .08 | 10.60** | .08 | 10.16** | .08 | 9.62** | ||||
| Age – A | .03 | 2.36* | .03 | 2.44* | .03 | 3.20** | .03 | 3.22** | ||||
| Sex (male = 0, female = 1) – S | .02 | 2.08* | .02 | 2.13* | .02 | 1.97* | .02 | 1.99* | ||||
| Interaction within Level 1 | ||||||||||||
| PEI × SES | _ | _ | .02 | 2.63** | _ | _ | _ | _ | ||||
| Level 2 | ||||||||||||
| Gini coefficient – GN | _ | _ | _ | _ | –.02 | –0.62 | –.02 | –0.58 | ||||
| GDP per capita (thousands USD) – G | –.04 | –3.54** | –.04 | –5.74** | –.02 | –0.85 | –.02 | –0.84 | ||||
| Unemployment rate – U | –.01 | –0.45 | –.01 | –0.43 | –.01 | –0.41 | –.01 | –0.44 | ||||
| Cross-level interaction | ||||||||||||
| GN × SES | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | .02 | 1.61 | ||||
[i] Note: * p < .05, ** p < .01. The multilevel regression equation for Model 1 is T2BIM = β00 + β10 × PEI + [β20 × T1BIM] + μ + γ; for Model 2 is T2BIM = β00 + β10 × PEI + [β01 × G + β02 × U + β20 × T1BIM + β30 × SES + β40 × A + β50 × S] + μ + γ; for Model 3 is T2BIM = β00 + β10 × PEI + β30 × SES + β60 × PEI × SES + [β01 × G + β02 × U + β20 × T1BIM + β40 × A + β50 × S] + μ + γ; for Model 4 is T2BIM = β00 + β01 × GN + [β10 × T1BIM] + μ + γ; for Model 5 is T2BIM = β00 + β01 × GN + [β02 × G + β03 × U + β10 × T1BIM + β20 × SES + β30 × A + β40 × S] + μ + γ; for Model 6 is T2BIM = β00 + β01 × GN + β21 × GN × SES + [β02 × G + β03 × U + β10 × T1BIM + β20 × SES + β30 × A + β40 × S] + μ + γ.
Figure 2
Belief in meritocracy in different conditions of economic inequality.
Note: ** p < .01. All error bars represent standard deviations.
Figure 3
PEI on BIM through DFP.
Note: ** p < .01. All variables were standardized. PEI = perceived economic inequality, BIM = belief in meritocracy, DUP = distributive unfairness perception, SES = socioeconomic status.