Author Description

Product Description Motivated by the desire to explain how Americans perceive and evaluate inequality and related programs and policies, the authors conducted a national survey of beliefs about social and economic inequality in America. Here they present the results of their research on the structure, determinants, and certain political and personal consequences of these beliefs. The presentations serve two major goals; to describe and explain the central features of Americans' images of inequality. Beliefs About Inequality begins with a focus on people's perceptions of the most basic elements of inequality: the availability of opportunity in society, the causes of economic achievements, and the benefits and costs of equality and inequality. The book's analysis of the public's beliefs on these key issues is based on fundamental theories of social psychology and lays the groundwork for understanding how Americans evaluate inequality-related policies. The authors discuss the ultimate determinants of beliefs and the implications of their findings for social policies related to inequality. They propose that attitudes toward economic inequality and related policy are influenced by three major aspects of the current American social, economic, and political environment: a stable "dominant ideology" about economic inequality; individuals' social and economic status; and specific beliefs and attitudes, often reflecting "social liberalism" shaped by recent political debates and events. Review “The study of social stratification is a central concern of sociology... Beliefs about Inequality falls within the tradition of subjective assessments of the stratification system. Instead of dealing narrowly with the topic of subjective social class, Kluegel and Smith take a broader view and look at individuals’ beliefs about stratification system as a whole.... This research adds to the growing literature in political cognition. Kluegel and Smith have made an important step in applying ideas from social-psychological research on social cognition to a traditional sociological topic. The ultimate result of such cross-fertilization should be to enrich research in both belief formation and social stratification.”—John A. Fleishman, Social Forces“Kluegel and Smith’s Beliefs about Inequality is a superb piece of scholarship, combining substantive ambition and theoretical depth with analytical clarity and sophistication. It is surely a book of enduring significance.”—Lawrence Bobo, the Public Opinion Quarterly “This book is about the American’s beliefs about inequality: its nature, its sources, and its consequences.... Kluegel and Smith represent a unique combination of skills and interests, and the integration of their somewhat differing orientations to theory and data has resulted in an important work. I am persuaded that their book will influence theory and research in this area for many years to come. It deserves the serious attention of scholars working in the field of inequality.”—Duane F. Alwin, Contemporary Sociology About the Author Eliot R. Smith is professor of psychology at Indiana University. He is the author of Social Psychology.James R. Kluegel is chairman of the Department of Sociology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the author of Evaluating Contemporary Juvenile Justice.