A Framing-Effect-Based Analysis of Income Inequality Perceptions*

Abstract

Income inequality is one of the greatest problems of our time, and what can be done to solve this problem is still under debate. Indeed, income distribution began to deteriorate especially after the industrial revolution. In particular, the fact that a small minority of the world's pop-ulation receives a large portion of the world's income and wealth is truly a matter that needs to be discussed. At this point, for the discussion to be healthier and reach a solution, it may be necessary for the majority to share the same view. However, due to changing perceptions, the importance of the income inequality problem may be perceived differently. From this per-spective, the behavioural economics school emerges, which argues that our perceptions can be distorted by the influence of psychology in perceptual processes. The psychological effects put forward by this school are generally referred to as biases, and perhaps the most popular of these biases is the framing effect. According to this effect, when the same situation is presented differently, the perceived reality may differ. In this study, the perception of income inequality was examined in the context of the framing effect. To test this perception, a questionnaire was designed, and participants were asked to answer numerical and verbal questions with the same meaning. The results obtained from the study show that the way income inequality is conveyed leads to perceptual differences and that the use of the framing effect could be an important tool in minimising potential income inequality problems.

Keywords

• Behavioral economics
• framing effect
• perception of income inequality

Gelir Eşitsizliği Algısının Çerçeveleme Etkisi Bağlamında İncelenmesi

Abstract

elir eşitsizliği günümüzün en büyük problemlerinden birisidir ve bu sorunun çözümünde neler yapılabileceği hala tartışılmaktadır. Öyle ki, gelir dağılımı özellikle sanayi devriminden sonra bozulmaya başlamıştır. Özellikle, dünya nüfusundaki küçük bir azınlığın dünyadaki ge-lir ve zenginliğin büyük bir kısmını alması gerçekten de tartışılması gereken bir konudur. Bu noktada, tartışmanın daha sağlıklı ve çözüme ulaşabilmesi için belki de çoğunluğun aynı gö-rüşte olması gereklidir. Ancak değişen algılar nedeniyle gelir eşitsizliği sorununun önemi farklı algılanabilir. Bu açıdan, algısal süreçlerde psikolojinin de etkisiyle algımızın bozulabileceğini savunan davranışsal iktisat ekolü karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bu ekolün öne sürdüğü psikolojik etkiler genel olarak önyargılar olarak adlandırılmaktadır ve bu önyargılardan belki de en po-püleri çerçeveleme etkisidir. Bu etkiye göre aynı durum farklı şekilde aktarıldığında algılanan gerçeklik farklılık gösterebilmektedir. Bu çalışmada da gelir eşitsizliği algısı çerçeveleme etkisi bağlamında incelenmiştir. Bu algıyı test edebilmek için bir anket tasarlanmış ve katılımcılar-dan aynı anlama gelen sayısal ve sözel soruları cevaplamaları istenmiştir. Çalışmadan elde edi-len sonuçlar, gelir eşitsizliğinin aktarım şeklinin algısal farklılıklara yol açtığı ve çerçeveleme etkisinin kullanımının potansiyel gelir eşitsizliği sorunlarını minimize etme açısından önemli bir araç olabileceğini göstermektedir.

Keywords

• Davranışsal iktisat
• çerçeveleme etkisi
• gelir eşitsizliği algısı

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