Beyond income inequality: the mediating effect of trust and fairness on the relationship between multiple indicators of inequality and subjective well-being

Abstract

Inequality in Europe has increased in the past decades. Recent studies have shown that increasing income inequality has a negative effect on subjective well-being (SWB) and other health outcomes. Yet, by focusing on income as a single measurement for inequality, one leaves out other important indicators of social inequality. This research has therefore broadened the scope of inequality by including educational, labor, and political inequality alongside economic inequality. It was examined whether these inequality indicators predict subjective well-being, and, if this effect is mediated by feelings of trust and fairness. A secondary quantitative data analysis was performed with data derived from the European Social Survey round 9 (2018) and parallel mediation analysis was performed using Hayes’ PROCESS macro. The sample consisted of Norwegian citizens above the age of 15 and contained 1406 participants. Results show that indeed non-economic inequality (educational, labor, and political) has a negative effect on subjective well-being and that this relationship is partially mediated by feelings of trust and fairness. Educational inequality negatively predicts SWB and does so through feelings of fairness, labor inequality predicts SWB through experienced trust, and political inequality’s influence on SWB is mediated by both trust and fairness. Furthermore, results show that income inequality does not significantly affect subjective well-being in this current study, an ambiguous result. This lack of significance could be due to lack of perceived inequality in Norway or to the operationalization of the concept. As the study contained secondary data, this issue could not be prevented. Regardless, this study shows the importance of the effects of non-economic inequality on subjective well-being, showing that reducing inequality should not merely be focused on income, but other societal inequalities as well. In order to achieve better societal psychological and physical health outcomes, decreasing non-economic inequality should therefore be high on the agenda.