The psychology of inequality and political division | Keith Payne

Translator: nuno martinez Reviewer: Xosé María Moreno

You've probably heard by now

Probablemente tes escoitado

that economic inequality is historically high,

que a desigualdade económica é moi alta

that the wealthiest one-tenth of one percent in the United States

que o 0,1% máis rico dos EEUU

have as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent combined,

ten tanta riqueza como o 90% máis pobre,

or that the wealthiest eight individuals in the world

ou que os oito individuos máis ricos

have as much wealth

teñen tanta riqueza

as the poorest 3.5 billion inhabitants of the planet.

como os tres mil cincocentos millóns máis pobres.

But did you know that economic inequality is associated with shorter lifespans,

Pero sabías que a desigualdade se asocia a vidas máis curtas,

less happiness,

menos felicidade,

more crime

máis delitos

and more drug abuse?

e máis drogadicción?

Those sound like problems of poverty,

Soan a problemas da pobreza

but among wealthy, developed nations

pero nos países desenvolvidos

those health and social problems

estes problemas sociais e sanitarios

are actually more tightly linked to inequality between incomes

están máis asociados á desigualdade de renda

than to absolute incomes.

que á renda absoluta.

And because of that,

Por iso,

the United States,

os EEUU

the wealthiest and the most unequal of nations,

o país máis rico e desigual,

actually fares worse than all other developed countries.

ten a peor puntuación entre os desenvolvidos.

Surveys show that large majorities of Americans,

As enquisas amosan que os norteamericanos,

both Democrats and Republicans,

tanto demócratas como republicanos,

believe inequality is too high and want more equal pay.

opinan que a desigualdade é alta demais e piden equidade salarial.

And yet as a society, we don't seem to be able to find the common ground,

E ainda así, non atopamos o espazo común,

the consensus, the political will to do anything about it.

o consenso, a vontade política de actuar.

Because, as inequality has risen in recent decades,

Porque, ao crecer a desigualdade,

political polarization has risen along with it.

creceu a polarización política.

We see those who disagree with us as idiots or as immoral.

Vemos aos rivais como idiotas ou inmorais.

Nearly half of Democrats and Republicans

Case a metade dos demócratas e dos republicanos

now think that the other side is not just mistaken

cren que o rival non só está equivocado

but a threat to the nation.

senon que é unha ameaza nacional.

And that animosity prevents us from finding the common ground

Esta animosidade impide o consenso

to change things.

para cambiar as cousas.

I'm a social psychology professor at the University of North Carolina,

Eu son profesor de psicoloxía social na Universidade de Carolina do Norte,

and I study the effects of inequality on people's thinking and behavior.

e estudo os efectos da desigualdade no pensamento e o comportamento da xente.

I'm going to argue that it's not just an unfortunate coincidence

Argumentarei que non é unha coincidencia desafortunada

that inequality and political division have risen together.

que a desigualdade e a división política aparezcan á vez.

There are good psychological reasons

Existen boas razóns psicolóxicas

that inequality drives wedges in our politics.

que explican por que a desigualdade crea divisións na nosa política.

That means there are good psychological paths

Significa que existen camiños psicolóxicos

to improve both at once.

para mellorar ambas á vez.

To understand why inequality is so powerful,

Para entender o poder da desigualdade,

you have to first understand that we are constantly comparing ourselves

cómpre saber que sempre nos comparamos

to other people,

con outra xente

and when we do that,

e cando facemos iso,

we really like to come out on top,

gústanos aparecer coma gañadores,

and we find it painful to be on the bottom.

e é doloroso estarmos entre os que perden.

Psychologists call it the "better-than-average effect."

Os psicólogos chámanlle: efecto "mellor cá media"

Most people believe they're better than average

A maioría cre que é mellor cá media

at just about anything they care about,

nas actividades que lles importan

which isn't strictly possible, because that's just what average means.

o cal non é posible, porque iso é o que media significa.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

But that's the way people feel.

Pero así é cómo a xente se sente.

Most people think they're smarter than average,

Cren ser más intelixentes cá media,

harder working than average

máis traballadores cá media

and more socially skilled.

e con máis habilidade social.

Most people think they're better drivers than average.

Cren que son mellores condutores.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

That's true even if you do the study with a sample of people

Cúmprese incluso se o estudo se lle fai a unha mostra de xente

currently hospitalized for a car accident that they caused.

hospitalizada por mor dun accidente de coche que eles causaron.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

So we really want to see ourselves as better than average,

Así que queremos vernos mellores cá media,

and if we find out otherwise,

e se non o percibimos así,

it's a painful experience that we have to cope with.

enton é doloroso e hai que superalo.

And we cope with it by shifting how we see the world.

E superámolo cambiando a forma de vermos o mundo.

To understand how this works,

Para entendernos como funciona,

my collaborators and I ran an experiment.

o meu equipo e mais eu fixemos un experimento.

We asked participants to complete a decision-making task to earn some money,

Pedímoslles aos participantes que fixesen unha tarefa para gañar diñeiro

and in reality, everyone earned the same amount of money.

e en verdade todos gañan a mesma cantidade.

But we randomly divided them into two groups,

Pero dividímolos en dous grupos,

and we told one group that they had done better than average,

E dixémoslle a un deles que o fixeron mellor cá media,

and we told the other group they had done worse than average.

e ao outro que o fixeron peor.

So now we have one group that feels richer and one group that feels poorer,

Agora un grupo séntese máis rico e o outro máis pobre,

but for no objective reason.

pero non por razóns obxectivas.

And then we asked them some questions.

Entón fixémoslles algunhas preguntas

When we asked them, "How good are you at making decisions?"

Cando lles preguntamos: Que tal se vos dá tomar decisións?

the better-than-average group said that they were more competent

O grupo "mellor" dixo que eran máis competentes

than the below-average group.

có outro.

The better-than-average group said that their success

O grupo "mellor" dixo que o seu éxito

was a fair outcome of a meritocracy.

fora unha pura cuestión de mérito.

The below-average group thought the system was rigged,

O grupo "peor" creu que o sistema fallara,

and in this case, of course, they were right.

e neste caso, tiñan razón.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

Even though the two groups had the same amount of money,

A pesar de teren o mesmo diñeiro,

the group that felt richer said we should cut taxes on the wealthy,

o grupo que se sentía máis rico quería baixar os impostos á riqueza,

cut benefits to the poor.

reducindo as axudas aos pobres.

Let them work hard and be responsible for themselves, they said.

"Deixa que traballen duro e que sexan autorresponsables", dixeron.

These are attitudes that we normally assume are rooted in deeply held values

Estas actitudes que asumimos como normais veñen de valores moi enraizados,

and a lifetime of experience,

e do que experimentamos durante a nosa vida,

but a 10-minute exercise

pero un exercicio de 10 minutos

that made people feel richer or poorer

que lle fixo á xente sentirse máis rica ou máis pobre

was enough to change those views.

abondou para cambiaren as súas opinións.

This difference between being rich or poor and feeling rich or poor is important,

A diferenza entre ser rico ou pobre e sentirse rico ou pobre é importante

because the two don't always line up very well.

porque non sempre cadran ben un co outro.

You often hear people say with nostalgia,

Pódese oír á xente dicir con nostalxia,

"We were poor, but we didn't know it."

"eramos pobres, pero non o sabiamos."

That was the case for me growing up,

Ese foi o meu caso ao crecer,

until one day,

até que un día,

in the fourth-grade lunch line,

na cola do comedor

we had a new cashier who didn't know the ropes,

tiñamos unha caixeira que non coñecía o sistema,

and she asked me for 1.25 dollars.

e que me pediu 1,25 dólares.

I was taken aback, because I had never been asked to pay for my lunch before.

Asusteime porque nunca tivera que pagar pola comida.

I didn't know what to say, because I didn't have any money.

Non souben que dicir, porque non tiña diñeiro

And suddenly, I realized for the first time

E de súpeto decateime que

that we free lunch kids were the poor ones.

os nenos que comiamos gratis eramos os pobres.

That awkward moment in the school lunch line

Aquel estraño momento na cola do comedor

changed so much for me,

cambioume moito,

because for the first time, I felt poor.

porque por primeira vez, sentinme pobre.

We didn't have any less money than the day before,

Non tiñamos menos diñeiro ca onte,

but for the first time,

pero por primeira vez,

I started noticing things differently.

comecei a ver as cousas doutro xeito.

It changed the way I saw the world.

Cambiou como vía o mundo.

I started noticing how the kids who paid for their lunch

Comecei a ver que os nenos que pagaban a comida

seemed to dress better than the free lunch kids.

vestían mellor que os que non a pagaban.

I started noticing the big yellow blocks of government cheese

Comecei a decatarme das barras amarelas de queixo do goberno

that showed up at our door

que aparecían na porta da casa

and the food stamps my mother would pull out at the grocery store.

e os cupóns de comida que mamá usaba para ir á compra.

I was always a shy kid,

Eu era un neno tímido,

but I hardly talked at all after that at school.

pero despois dese día case deixei de falar na escola.

Who was I to speak up?

Con quen ía falar?

For decades, social scientists looked for evidence

Durante décadas, os investigadores buscaron probas

that feeling deprived compared to other people

que confirmasen que sentirse pobre en comparación con outros

would motivate political action.

podería mover á acción política.

They thought it would mobilize protests, strikes,

Crían que provocaría protestas, folgas,

maybe even revolutions.

quizais ata revolucións.

But again and again what they found was that it paralyzed people,

Pero unha e outra vez confirmaban que paralizaba a xente

because the truth is,

porque a verdade é que,

feeling less than other people

sentirse menos ca outra xente

brings shame.

fai que nos avergoñemos.

It makes people turn away,

Fai que a xente se retire,

disgusted with the system.

anoxada co sistema.

Feeling better than other people, though --

En cambio, sentírmonos mellor ca outra xente...

now that is motivating.

iso si que é motivador.

It motivates us to protect that position,

Motívanos a protexer ese estatus,

and it has important consequences for our politics.

e ten importantes consecuencias para as nosas posicións políticas.

To see why, consider another experiment.

Para ver por qué, consideremos outro experimento:

Again, we asked participants to make decisions to earn some money,

De novo pedímoslles aos participantes que tomen decisións para gañaren cartos,

and we told one group that they had done better than average

e a un grupo dicímoslle que o fixo mellor cá media

and the other group that they had done worse than average.

e ao outro que peor.

And again, the better-than-average group said it's a fair meritocracy,

E outra vez, o grupo "mellor" dixo que foi grazas aos seus méritos,

cut taxes on the wealthy,

quere baixarlle impostos aos ricos,

cut benefits on the poor.

recortarlles axudas aos pobres.

But this time, we also asked them what did they think

Pero esta vez, preguntámoslles ademais que pensan

about other participants who disagree with them

dos outros participantes que non concordan con eles

on those issues.

na cuestión dos impostos.

Are they smart or incompetent?

Son listos ou parvos?

Are they reasonable or are they biased?

Son razoables ou interesados?

The better-than-average group said anybody who disagrees with them

O grupo "mellor" di que quen non opina coma eles

must be incompetent, biased,

teñen que ser incompetentes, interesados,

blinded by self-interest.

cegados polo interese propio.

The below-average group

O grupo "peor"

didn't assume that about their opponents.

non opinan iso dos seus opoñentes.

Now, there are lots of psychology studies

Existen múltiples estudos psicolóxicos que mostran

showing that when people agree with us,

que cando a xente concorda con nós

we think they're brilliant,

témola por intelixente,

and when people disagree with us,

e cando non concorda,

we tend to think they're idiots.

pensamos que son idiotas.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

But this is new because we found it was driven entirely by the group

Pero isto é novo, porque descubrimos que só ocorre no grupo

that felt better than average,

que se ve superior á media,

who felt entitled to dismiss those people who disagree with them.

quen se sente co dereito de desprezar a aqueles que non pensan coma eles.

So think about what this is doing to our politics,

E pensemos no que isto provoca na nosa política,

as the haves and have-nots spread further and further apart.

cando as diferenzas entre ricos e pobres aumentan máis e máis.

Yes, a lot of us think that people on the other side are idiots,

Si, moitos pensan que os outros son idiotas,

but the people politically engaged enough to be yelling at each other about politics

mais a xente tan implicada en política como discutir con outros sobre ela

son en realidade os ricos.

are actually mostly the well-off.

In fact, as inequality has grown in recent decades,

De feito, mentres a desigualdade crecía nestas últimas décadas,

political interest and participation among the poor has plummeted.

o interese e a participación en política dos pobres afundiuse.

Again, we see that people who feel left behind

Outra vez, vemos como a xente que se sente abandonada

aren't taking to the streets to protest or organize voter registration drives.

non protesta na rúa nin organiza inscricións de votantes.

Often, they aren't even voting.

Moitas veces, nin vota.

Instead, they're turning away and dropping out.

No canto, viran as costas e desinterésanse.

So if we want to do something about extreme inequality,

Asi que se queremos facer algo en relación á desigualdade extrema,

we have to fix our politics.

temos que arranxar a nosa política.

And if we want to fix our politics,

E se queremos arranxala,

we have to do something about inequality.

hai que facer algo coa desigualdade.

So what do we do?

Que podemos facer?

The wonderful thing about spirals

O marabilloso das espirais,

is that you can interrupt at any point in the cycle.

é que poden interromperse en calquera punto do ciclo.

I think our best bet starts with those of us

Coido que a nosa mellor aposta empeza entre aqueles de nós,

who have benefited the most from inequality's rise,

máis beneficiados no aumento da desigualdade,

those of us who have done better than average.

aqueles que o fixemos mellor cá media.

If you've been successful,

Se tiveches éxito

it's natural to chalk up your success to your own hard work.

é normal ligares o teu éxito ao teu esforzado traballo.

But, like the studies I showed you,

Pero, como xa vimos,

everybody does that,

todo o mundo pensa así,

whether or not it really was the hard work that mattered most.

sen saber se en realidade o esforzo foi ou non o factor principal.

Every successful person I know

Todas as persoas de éxito que coñezo

can think of times when they worked hard and struggled to succeed.

poden pensar en momentos en que traballaron duro e triunfaron.

They can also think of times

Tamén poden pensar en momentos

when they benefited from good luck or a helping hand

en que se beneficiaron da boa sorte ou da axuda de alguén,

but that part is harder.

pero iso é máis difícil.

Psychologists Shai Davidai and Tom Gilovich

Os psicólogos Shai Davidai e Tom Gilovich

call it the "headwind-tailwind asymmetry."

chámanlle asimetría vento de proa - vento de popa.

When you're struggling against headwinds,

Cando te esforzas contra os ventos de proa

those obstacles are all you can see.

só podes ver os obstáculos.

It's what you notice and remember.

É o que percibes e recordas.

But when the wind's at your back and everything's going your way,

Pero cando o vento zoa de popa e todo vai ben,

all you notice is yourself

só te ves a ti

and our own amazing talents.

e as túas incribles aptitudes.

So we have to stop and think for a minute

Temos que parar por un minuto e pensar

to recognize those tailwinds helping us along.

para recoñecer eses ventos de popa que nos axudaron.

It's so easy to see what's wrong with people

É moi doado ver os defectos na xente

who disagree with you.

que non concorda connosco.

Some of you decided that I was an idiot in the first two minutes,

Algúns de vós concluístes que era idiota nos primeiros dous minutos

because I said inequality was harmful.

cando dixen que a desigualdade era daniña.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

The hard part is to recognize

A parte difícil é recoñecer

that if you were in a different position,

que se o voso estatus fose outro,

you might see things differently,

poderiades ver as cousas diferentes,

just like the subjects in our experiments.

como os suxeitos do noso experimento.

So if you're in the above-average group in life --

Así que, se estás por riba da media,

and if you're watching a TED talk, you most likely are --

e se estás vendo unha charla TED, é moi probable que o esteas

(Laughter)

(Risas)

then I leave you with this challenge:

quero deixarche este reto:

the next time you're tempted to dismiss someone who disagrees with you

a próxima vez que esteas tentado a catalogar a quen non pensa coma ti

as an idiot,

como idiota

think about the tailwinds that helped you get where you are.

pensa nos ventos de popa que te impulsaron até onde estás.

What lucky breaks did you get

Qué momentos de sorte tiveches

that might have turned out differently?

que puideron acabar de xeito distinto?

What helping hands are you grateful for?

A que man amiga lle estás agradecido?

Recognizing those tailwinds gives us the humility we need

Recoñecermos eses ventos de popa dános a humildade necesaria

to see that disagreeing with us doesn't make people idiots.

para ver que quen non opina coma nós non son idiotas

The real hard work is in finding common ground,

O traballo difícil é atoparmos intereses e valores en común,

because it's the well-off who have the power

porque os que vivimos mellor somos quen temos o poder

and the responsibility to change things.

e a responsabilidade de cambiarmos as cousas.

Thank you.

Grazas.

(Applause)

(Aplausos)