The Wealth Paradox Economic Prosperity and the Hardening of Attitudes

The West is currently in the grip of a perfect storm: a lingering economic recession, a global refugee crisis, declining faith in multiculturalism, and the rise of populist anti-immigration parties. These developments seem to confirm the widely held view that hardship and poverty lead to social unrest and, more specifically, scapegoating of minorities. Yet in this provocative new book, Mols and Jetten present compelling evidence to show that prejudice and intergroup hostility can be equally prevalent in times of economic prosperity, and among more affluent sections of the population. Integrating theory and research from social psychology, political science, sociology, and history, the authors systematically investigate why positive factors such as gratification, economic prosperity, and success may also fuel negative attitudes and behaviours. The Wealth Paradox provides a timely and important re-evaluation of the role that economic forces play in shaping prejudice.

Part I. What We Know (Or Think We Know): 1. Recognising the elephant; 2. Tracing the origins of 'harsh times' assumptions; 3. Empirical evidence for the 'harsh times producing hard attitudes' hypothesis; Part II. Broadening our Horizon: The 'Wealth Paradox': 4. Rethinking the relationship between wealth and tolerance: national, regional and local trends; 5. Development aid, charitable giving and economic prosperity; 6. The relative nature of wealth; Part III. Understanding the 'Wealth Paradox': 7. Towards an explanation of the wealth paradox: introducing social identity theorising; 8. The wealth paradox explained; 9. The missing link: crafty politicians galvanising latent sentiments; Final words.

Frank Mols is a lecturer in Political Science at the University of Queensland. His research interests include the current rise in populist right-wing parties, anti-immigration movements, regional and separatist movements, voter attitudes, nationalism, identity politics, and identity-based leadership. His work, which brings together political science and social psychological theorising, has been published in leading international journals, including the European Journal of Political Research, Political Psychology, West European Politics, the Journal of Common Market Studies, Public Administration, Evidence and Policy, and the Australian Journal of Public Administration.
Jolanda Jetten is a Professor of Social Psychology and an Australian Research Council Future Fellow at the University of Queensland. Her research is concerned with social identity, group processes, and intergroup relations. She has a special interest in marginal group membership, deviance within groups, normative influence and conformity, prejudice and discrimination, coping with stigma, and, recently, the way identity can protect health and well-being. She has served as the Chief Editor of the British Journal of Social Psychology and as an Associate Editor for the British Journal of Social Psychology, Social Psychology, and Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology. She was awarded the British Psychological Society's Spearman Medal in 2004 and the European Association of Social Psychology's Kurt Lewin Award in 2014. She was the President of the Society of Australasian Social Psychology from 2011 to 2013, served on the Australian Research Council College of Experts, and recently became a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.