It has long been a suspicion that our concept of fairness changes according to our wealth. Research from the University of Michigan supports this suspicion, and finds that wealthy Americans have a very different concept of fairness, which translates into a greater willingness to accept inequalities than the general public.

The findings give us new insights into why rich people often don’t like the idea of the government taking money from them to give to others. Normally, people support policies that they think will benefit them personally. For example, if a new tax law means you have to pay more taxes, you’d probably be against it. But this study looked at things differently. It found that fairness matters, especially when it comes to sharing wealth with others.

Concepts of fairness

The researchers worked with a company that conducts surveys online and includes people from all over the country. They did this between December 2016 and April 2017 and talked to 465 people who were in the top 5% when it comes to income and wealth. These were people who earned more than $250,000 a year or had at least $1 million in savings. The participants had to make choices that affected how much money other people earned for doing the same job.

What’s interesting is that more than twice as many of the really wealthy people said they believed in a “libertarian fairness view.” This means they were okay with inequality, even if it was because of bad luck.

“In other words, wealthy individuals are more likely to consider unequal incomes as fair even if the inequality arises from chance,” the researchers explain.

In contrast, the other 95% of people tend to think that unequal incomes are unfair, even if they happen because some people work harder than others. The study called this viewpoint the “egalitarian fairness view.”

Differing opinions

This idea of fairness can explain why rich and non-rich people have different opinions about taxes. It turns out that these fairness views can explain about one-third of the difference in how rich and non-rich people feel about taxes. In the 2016 presidential election, when Donald Trump promised tax cuts for wealthy people, these fairness views also explained why 45% of the rich and non-rich voters had different opinions.

The study also found that people who say they worked their way up to being rich, maybe by starting their own businesses or working hard, are more okay with income inequality than people who simply inherited their wealth. Additionally, those who are the first in their family to become wealthy are less likely to support the government giving money to those who have less.

“These findings contradict the notion that individuals who have experienced upward mobility will be sympathetic to more equal income distributions given their humble beginnings,” the authors conclude.