Cultural beliefs and biases
Cultural beliefs and biases have always had a significant role to play in determining the extent of income inequality and distribution of wealth in the society. The presence of cultural beliefs and biases in the extents of inequality witnessed in the society is a problem that has existed for centuries. According to Bauman (2011), different societies may have different degrees and levels of wealth distribution or income inequality. As such, societies that are usually characterized by inequalities also tend to exhibit unequal distribution of wealth whereby the concentration of wealth often takes place at the highest level of social standing. Such a position is supported by cultural biases, which often seem to give justification for this particular state of affairs. Moreover, unequal societies usually harbor individuals whose cultural beliefs and biases encourage them to either consider themselves as being superior or as being inferior depending on the level of their income and the amount of wealth they have managed to accumulate.
The view held by Jost et al. (2014) indicate that there are certain societies where cultural beliefs and practices are used to discriminate against other individuals to the extent of creating very significant inequalities with regard to distribution of wealth and resources. For instance, there are some cultural beliefs in certain societies that are openly biased against the empowering of their female members thus the male member of the society disproportionately higher levels of wealth distribution. In societies where there are considerable levels of economic equality, inequality in income and wealth distribution diminishes and the tendency of people regarding them as superior or inferiors weakens. There is sufficient evidence in many regions across the world that income inequality is linked to cultural biases and beliefs. To that extent, the contemporary social issues of inequality in income and distribution of wealth continue to be perpetuated by different cultural systems operating with the society.
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Social Roles
In most societies, social role usually dictate the nature of social policies that are eventually formulated to govern different social interactions and engagements. As such, social roles play a critical role in determining the occupations as well as economic activities in which individuals in the society end up engaging, for example, the roles played by parents and teachers. The implications of this nature of social engagement are that there arises a wide gap between individuals in a society based on their different socio-economic activities. Furthermore, social policies such as those governing operations in the health and education sectors could significantly lead to instances of income inequality and unequal distribution of wealth among member of the society if they are purely based on social roles (Sernau, 2013).
The findings by Jost et al. (2014) have clearly established that the definition of social roles in most societies around the globe often fail to pay attention to issues of equality. Every individual in the society is always subjected to a comparison based on his or her social roles. In that regard, individual have the tendency of referring to the social ladder when it come to the evaluation of their various social status. In many societies, the social roles played by different individuals often the level of their income as well as the amount of wealth that they are able to acquire and accumulate over a given period. Whenever there are discrepancies with regard to the conduction and facilitation of social roles in among individuals in a given society, there are higher likelihoods of such a society experiencing extreme gaps in the distribution of resources as well as income inequality. In some case, social roles are influenced through selfish interests of people in the society who are keen on amassing without caring about others who may be languishing in poverty.
Social inequalities
Social inequalities among individuals in a given society are largely encouraged by increasing levels of income inequality as well as lack of fairness in the distribution of wealth and resources. The observation made by Sernau (2013) indicates that the concept of social inequality usually arises in situations that are characterized by uneven distribution of wealth and resources in a society. Ideally, the distribution of resources in the society is expected to follow certain norms and patterns of allocation. Furthermore, such as allocation is usually expected to consider the social definition of different categories of people in the society. According to Bauman (2011), income inequality influence the differentiation preference of people in a society when it comes to their ability in accessing education, healthcare, and political representations as well as various social rights. In this regard, a strong relationship exists between the aspects of social inequality and instances of economic inequality, which are essentially, defined by income and wealth distributions among the members of a given society.
Issues of social inequality are commonly defined and described based on unequal distribution of wealth and income inequalities among member of the society involved in various occupations and socio-economic activities. For example, there may be social inequalities based on racism and tribalism among others. Even though sociology and economic disciplines generally involve the adoption of different theories and theoretical models in analyzing and describing social inequalities, both areas of specialization are usually considered in the understanding of the concept of inequality. Jost et al. (2014) suggest that natural, economic and social resources in most societies are usually distributed unevenly in most society which considerable contributes to social inequalities defined by unequal social status of individuals in such societies. In some cases, the norms and patterns of allocation have the ability to influence the distribution of social power and social privileges as well as social rights thus determining the distribution of wealth and income.
Existing social conditions
The existing social conditions in any given contemporary society are usually critical in the determination of various levels of income and the extent to which wealth can be distributed in the society. In most societies around the globe, the existing social conditions for individuals are largely influenced through their levels of education, the nature of the occupation, their social status and level of income among others. Bauman (2011) indicates that the existing social conditions in a society could lead to unequal distribution of wealth and resources in instances where they are characterized by discrimination and unfairness. Such social conditions may also go to the extent of curtailing human freedoms and human rights in a manner that encourages social divisions and social inequalities.
Poor quality of education, unemployment, ineffective system of healthcare, insufficient levels of food supplies and high rates of crime are part of adverse social conditions whose existence in the society could be attributable to the social issues described by income inequality and unequal distribution of resources. The ability of a society to effectively address the needs of its members at any given point implies that the existing social conditions are favorable for equality where there is equal distribution of wealth as well as equality of income among the working population. The argument by Sernau (2013) indicates that the social conditions within a society may have positive or negative impacts on individuals and that can be demonstrated through instances of equality or inequality income and distribution of wealth.
References
Bauman, Z. (2011). Collateral damage: Social inequalities in a global age . Cambridge, UK: Polity.
Jost, J. T., Kay, A. C., & Thorisdottir, H. (2014). Social and psychological bases of ideology and system justification . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sernau, S. (2013). Social inequality in a global age . Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications,Inc
