En Plein Air: Studying Human Behaviour and Attitudes in a Stratified World
This thesis grapples with two concurrent phenomena occurring against the backdrop of rising income and wealth inequality. The first is the growing popularity of cost-effective, psychologically informed (behavioural) policymaking. The second is the persistent belief that a combination of hard work and talent facilitates socioeconomic improvement for large swaths of society. I argue that both phenomena reveal a shared fallacy, namely, the notion that universal psychological processes determine people’s behaviour and outcomes, both in a descriptive and normative fashion. By fusing sociological theory and novel empirical findings, the thesis presents an alternative perspective to emphasise the role of culture, politics and community life. The thesis encourages social and behavioural scientists to descend from the academic ivory tower in order to engage with diverse lived realities. I contribute to a burgeoning literature in behavioural science calling for rigorous research into systemic processes beyond the control of individual action. My engagement with behavioural science responds to, and builds upon, the entrenched socioeconomic divides that stratify societies. To introduce key concepts, chapter 1 charts my own intellectual development from aspiring behavioural economist to inequality scholar. In line with this genealogical approach, chapter 2 likens the evolution of behavioural economics and the expansive field of behavioural science to developments in nineteenth-century art. This allows me to illustrate that idealistic ideas about human nature stymie serious attempts to understand socially and culturally contingent drivers of behaviour. I continue in chapter 3 to recommend that behavioural scientists confront the social class-related origins of cognitive processes, much like impressionist artists. Chapter 4 utilises panel data on Germany’s largest cities to discuss an important caveat: growing inequalities deepen the segregation of affluence and poverty, so opposing socioeconomic realities become increasingly invisible. At the same time, chapter 5 shows, using Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic violence and cross-national survey data, that contact across social groups can foster belief in individualistic determinants of success, albeit high rates of inequality should open people’s eyes to structural disparities. Chapter 6 reflects upon the vexed issues identified in previous chapters by probing my interdisciplinary perspective on behavioural science and inequality.
Behavioural economics, Behavioural science, Habitus, Impressionism, Inequality
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