The Role of Social Mobility Experience in Zero‐Sum Beliefs

ABSTRACT In today's world, where growth and capital accumulation are the norm, many people still adhere to zero‐sum thinking, the belief that gains for one party can only come at the expense of another party. The perception of economic exchange as zero‐sum can lead to excessive competition and uncooperative behavior. We investigate social mobility as a driver of zero‐sum beliefs by leveraging worldwide survey data and recently published data on intergenerational educational mobility. We find that a higher probability of downward mobility in an individual's cohort and education group is associated with increased zero‐sum beliefs. Consistent with gender‐specific status concerns, downward mobility is only correlated with zero‐sum beliefs for men.