Examining the Changes in Intolerance Toward Economic Inequality, Their Predictors, and Political Outcomes

Chile's recent history offers an ideal setting for analyzing the changes in people's intolerance of economic inequality. The authors focused on the period between 2016 and 2022, during which the country experienced strong collective action against economic inequality—the so-called “social outburst.” They used data from the Longitudinal Social Study of Chile (Estudio Longitudinal Social de Chile), a nationally representative longitudinal panel survey initiated in 2016 with a baseline sample of 2,927 participants. In 2018, a refreshment sample of 1,500 participants was added to the study. Latent Class Growth Analysis was employed to identify distinct subgroups of Chileans with varying intolerance toward economic inequality over time. Three trajectories were found: high intolerance, ascending intolerance, and descending intolerance. The authors then investigated the factors that were most likely to account for these trends in 2016. Educational attainment and satisfaction with the current constitution were key factors for differentiating these trajectories. Finally, the authors analyzed differences in political attitudes and behaviors between the groups that exhibited different trajectories in 2022, showing that the high intolerance group participated more in collective action and displayed greater interest in politics compared to both the descending and ascending intolerance groups. The results are discussed, highlighting the importance of focusing on changes within individuals in intolerance toward economic inequality.