Mareeva S.V., Slobodenyuk E.D., Anikin V.A. (2022) Public Tolerance for Social Inequalities in Turbulent Russia: Reassessing the Role of Subjective Mobility. Monitoring of Public Opini­on: Economic and Social Changes. No. 1. P. 39–60. https: ...

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Abstract

The paper addresses the issue of the perception of social inequality by the population, its dynamics and the role of social mobility as a factor of its differentiation. Based on data from all-Russian representative surveys carried out within the framework of the ISSP international program in 1992-2019 and by FCTAS RAS in 2020, it is shown that in terms of the perception of income inequality by the population, the situation resembles the one seen in the 1990s, during a completely different stage of the country's development. The overwhelming majority of Russians today continue to perceive income inequality as excessively high and unfair. Such perceptions as well as the associated high demand for redistribution do not differ in socio-demographic or socio-economic groups. The experience of social mobility does not lead to significant differentiation in this respect as well; effect of expected mobility in the medium term is also weak. Only short-term expectations “work” relatively noticeably in this regard: if they are positive, then they reduce the negative perception of income inequality and the demand for redistribution. As for the perception of non-monetary inequalities, the normative ideas about which of them should be minimized to achieve social justice turn out to be similar in groups with different directions of expected or experienced mobility. This allows us to conclude that the perception of both monetary and non-monetary inequalities, as well as demand for their reduction, are to a greater extent formed on the basis of normative ideas about the appropriate structure of society and an assessment of its compliance with the observed reality, than on the basis of the individual situation, including expected or experienced mobility. The paper addresses the issue of the perception of social inequality by the population, its dynamics and the role of social mobility as a factor of its differentiation. Based on data from all-Russian representative surveys carried out within the framework of the ISSP international program in 1992-2019 and by FCTAS RAS in 2020, it is shown that in terms of the perception of income inequality by the population, the situation resembles the one seen in the 1990s, during a completely different stage of the country's development. The overwhelming majority of Russians today continue to perceive income inequality as excessively high and unfair. Such perceptions as well as the associated high demand for redistribution do not differ in socio-demographic or socio-economic groups. The experience of social mobility does not lead to significant differentiation in this respect as well; effect of expected mobility in the medium term is also weak. Only short-term expectations “work” relatively noticeably in this regard: if they are positive, then they reduce the negative perception of income inequality and the demand for redistribution. As for the perception of non-monetary inequalities, the normative ideas about which of them should be minimized to achieve social justice turn out to be similar in groups with different directions of expected or experienced mobility. This allows us to conclude that the perception of both monetary and non-monetary inequalities, as well as demand for their reduction, are to a greater extent formed on the basis of normative ideas about the appropriate structure of society and an assessment of its compliance with the observed reality, than on the basis of the individual situation, including expected or experienced mobility. Based on the data of all-Rus-sian representative studies conducted within the framework of the internation-al ISSP program in 1992–2019, as well as the 2020 study of the Federal Re-search Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the article examines the perception of social inequality by the

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