ESRC Society Today

One of the puzzles of capitalist democracies has been how they remain so peaceful despite widespread inequalities of condition. Why do people accept the large and expanding inequalities of income, wealth and power from which the relatively few benefit? Many answers have been suggested. One possible answer is that people do not appreciate the scale of inequality, nor do they feel relatively deprived in relation to others, because the social comparisons thay make are with others close to them in the social hierarchy. That is, they have restricted reference groups. They compare themselves with their own past situations, or with the situations of friends, family and work colleagues and not with those far removed from them in social and economic terms. Hence inequalities are tolerated and/or not fully appreciated. However, this view is based on research from the 1960s and 1970s. Is it still likely to be the case today, in the media dominated, global, information society, that people's horizons remain so limited and their knowledge of other's lifestyles is still so vague? Have comparative reference groups changed? Is the hierarchy of rewards still opaque? It is time for a reassessment of the theory of restricted reference groups. This fellowship is designed to build the foundations for a new study of the link between social comparisons and social order.

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