Entertaining Beliefs in Economic Mobility

Americans have long believed in upward mobility and the narrative of the American Dream. Even in the face of rising income inequality and substantial empirical evidence that economic mobility has declined in recent decades, many Americans remain convinced of the prospects for upward mobility. What e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of political science 2023-01, Vol.67 (1), p.39-54
Main Author: Kim, Eunji
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attribution
Entertainment
Experiments
Income inequality
Internet
Mass media effects
Mobility
Narratives
Polls & surveys
Prospects
Redistribution
Social mobility
Socioeconomic status
Television
Viewers
Wealth
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Summary:Americans have long believed in upward mobility and the narrative of the American Dream. Even in the face of rising income inequality and substantial empirical evidence that economic mobility has declined in recent decades, many Americans remain convinced of the prospects for upward mobility. What explains this disconnect? I argue that their media diets play an important role in explaining this puzzle. Specifically, contemporary Americans are watching a record number of entertainment TV programs that emphasize “rags‐to‐riches” narratives. I demonstrate that such shows have become a ubiquitous part of the media landscape over the last two decades. Online and lab‐in‐the‐field experiments as well as national surveys show that exposure to these programs increases viewers’ beliefs in the American Dream and promotes internal attributions of wealth. Media exemplars present in what Americans leisurely consume every day can powerfully distort economic perceptions and have important implications for public preferences for economic redistribution.
ISSN:0092-5853
1540-5907
DOI:10.1111/ajps.12702