Article
Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization

Seeing Wealth as a Responsibility Improves Attitudes Towards Taxation

By: Ashley V. Whillans, Nathan J. Wispinski and Elizabeth W. Dunn

Format:Print

Abstract

Taxes are beneficial; society depends on the revenue generated from taxation to provide essential public services such as education and health care. Taxes also attract a high degree of loathing. Tax noncompliance is a major problem for governments worldwide—with hundreds of billions of potential tax revenue uncollected each year. Thus, it is critical for research to examine factors that encourage tax satisfaction. In this research, we hypothesized that people would be more inclined to view taxation in a favorable light if they believed that wealth incurs a responsibility to give back to society (wealth-as-responsibility). Consistent with this prediction, in Study 1, people who reported stronger wealth-as-responsibility beliefs felt better about paying taxes. In Study 2, individuals assigned to read text encouraging the idea that wealth incurs a responsibility to give back to society felt better about paying taxes compared to a neutral control group. In Study 3, individuals assigned to read text encouraging wealth-as-responsibility felt better about paying taxes on earned income in the lab. Together, these studies show that reframing the meaning of wealth can shape people’s attitudes about paying their taxes, thus providing evidence for a novel lever to encourage more positive attitudes about taxation.

Keywords

Wealth; Taxation; Attitudes; Society

Citation

Whillans, Ashley V., Nathan J. Wispinski, and Elizabeth W. Dunn. "Seeing Wealth as a Responsibility Improves Attitudes Towards Taxation." Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 127 (July 2016): 146–154.