Visualizing economic inequality saliently and to-scale can alter inequality perceptions and redistributive preferences

High economic inequality is detrimental to modern societies, but public support for redistributive policies tends to be low. Recent research by J. Walker et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 118 , e2100430118 (2021), has suggested that drawing individuals’ attention to a very wealthy individual (vs. group) lowers support for redistribution by leading people to judge the rich individual’s wealth as well-deserved. Yet could this person positivity bias be driven by people’s lack of comprehension about the true extent of economic inequality between themselves and the ultra-rich? And how stable is this bias across the political spectrum? We address these questions in three preregistered conceptual replications ( N  = 4,308) with US nationally representative samples, using stimuli that visualizes inequality graphically and scales it to familiar anchors (e.g., the US median income). Our results suggest that a graphical and to-scale representation of inequality can substantially influence the observed bias, sometimes decreasing it, sometimes increasing it, and sometimes not affecting it at all. These effects appear to depend primarily on the scaling point used. Moreover, using computational methods, we show substantial heterogeneity in the effect based on political orientation, suggesting that a graphical and to-scale illustration of inequality could lead to less support for redistribution among some demographics (i.e., moderates) and more support among others (i.e., liberals and conservatives). Together, our results suggest that perceptions of inequality and redistributive preferences are malleable and that policymakers should be mindful of how polices aimed at reducing inequality are communicated and targeted.