The Inner Level: How More Equal Societies Reduce Stress, Restore Sanity and Improve Everyone's Well-Being

by Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett

Overview

A groundbreaking investigation of how inequality infects our minds and gets under our skin

Why are people more relaxed and at ease with each other in some countries than others? Why do we worry so much about what others think of us and often feel social life is a stressful performance? Why is mental illness three times as common in the USA as in Germany? Why is the American dream more of a reality in Denmark than the USA? What makes child well-being so much worse in some countries than others? As The Inner Level demonstrates, the answer to all these is inequality.

In The Spirit Level Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett put inequality at the center of public debate by showing conclusively that less equal societies fare worse than more equal ones across everything from education to life expectancy. The Inner Level now explains how inequality affects us individually, altering how we think, feel and behave. It sets out the overwhelming evidence that material inequities have powerful psychological effects: when the gap between rich and poor increases, so does the tendency to define and value ourselves and others in terms of superiority and inferiority. A deep well of data and analysis is drawn upon to empirically show, for example, that low social status leads to elevated levels of stress hormones, and how rates of anxiety, depression and addictions are intimately related to the inequality which makes that status paramount.

Wilkinson and Pickett describe how these responses to hierarchies evolved, and why the impacts of inequality on us are so severe. In doing so, they challenge the conception that humans are inescapably competitive and self-interested. They undermine, too, the idea that inequality is the product of "natural" differences in individual ability. This book draws together many of the most urgent problems facing societies today, but it is not just an index of our ills. It demonstrates that societies based on fundamental equalities, sharing and reciprocity generate much higher levels of well-being, and lays out the path towards them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525561224
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/22/2019
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	1,223,880
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Richard Wilkinson has played a formative role in international research on the social determinants of health. He studied economic history at the London School of Economics before training in epidemiology and is Professor Emeritus at the University of Nottingham Medical School and Honorary Professor at University College London.

Kate Pickett is Professor of Epidemiology, Research Champion for Justice and Equality and Deputy Director of the Centre for Future Health at the University of York. She studied physical anthropology at Cambridge, nutritional sciences at Cornell and epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Wilkinson and Pickett's work on The Spirit Level was shortlisted for Research Project of the Year 2009 by the Times Higher Education Supplement, and it was chosen as one of the Top Ten Books of the Decade by the New Statesman. Together, they founded the Equality Trust, which seeks to promote public understanding of the effects of inequality.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Note on Data and Figures xiii

Prologue 1

1 This Is Not a Self-help Book 9

Part 1 Inequality in the Mind

2 Self-doubt 41

3 Delusions of Grandeur 69

4 False Remedies 97

Part 2 Myths of Human Nature, Meritocracy and Class

5 The Human Condition 121

6 The Misconception of Meritocracy 161

7 Class Acts 195

Part 3 The Road Ahead

8 A Sustainable Future? 225

9 A Better World 241

Acknowledgements 275

List of Figures 277

Appendices 280

Resources 280

A List of Health and Social Outcomes Affected by Income Inequality 283

References 289

Index 324

Editorial Reviews

11/26/2018
In this detailed and wide-ranging book, Wilkinson and Pickett, British epidemiologists and authors of The Spirit Level, argue that income inequality causes a society “a greater burden of health and social problems.” These include anxiety (and its consequent negative health effects), social isolation, drug and alcohol dependence, “narcissism and self-aggrandizement,” and so on; the authors conclude that these ills can be ameliorated by decreasing income inequality. While they painstakingly present evidence of correlation between, for example, mass shootings or bullying and higher income inequality (or better well-being and more equality), their assertions about causation are more speculative. They also take something of a kitchen-sink approach, devoting entire chapters to ideas tangential to the main thesis, for example that environmental sustainability must be considered in tackling inequality. In the final chapter, they offer valuable suggestions on how to decrease inequality, such as worker representation on corporate boards, which seems an almost utopian goal in contemporary America but has been mandated in Germany since 1951. Though stylistically somewhat dry, with an academic slant toward statistics rather than illustrative anecdotes, this book will strongly appeal to readers interested in well-being, equality, or both. Agent: Sarah Scarlett, Penguin U.K. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

"A wonderful, important book." —Jeffrey D. Sachs, author of The End of Poverty

“The message is clear and critically important: embrace egalitarianism—for better health and quality of life.” —Booklist

“Anyone who cares about the quality of our collective lives should be stunned by a profound finding: as societies become more unequal, they become less healthy, happy, safe and kind. And this does not just apply to those have-nots below society’s radar; it impacts everyone. For years, Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett have been the scientists most responsible for these findings, and in The Inner Level, they confront many of our most urgent problems in a clear, compelling way, one that generates a sense of moral outrage at the damage wrought by inequality.” —Robert Sapolsky, author of Behave

“Humanity prefers equal wealth distributions yet builds economies with ever larger income disparities. Wilkinson and Pickett present a wealth of evidence to show that this development is not good for our health, because inequality produces stress and gnaws at trust. It does so universally and even in some other species. Those who believe that we need to follow 'the law of the strongest' may simply have human biology wrong.”  —Frans de Waal, author of Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are

"The question of inequality is likely to play a bigger role in the next election than it has for more than a generation. It would be better for all of us if that debate was informed by robust statistical analysis rather than the emotive politics of envy. Any politician wishing to do so would be wise to read Wilkinson and Pickett's books." —Andrew Anthony, Observer

"The Inner Level holds the reader's attention by elaborating a phenomenon most will already have observed, and by providing an explanation for the dysfunction they see around them, from the brazen disregard for rules among many corporate and political leaders to the nihilism of drug addicts and school-shooters." —Economist

From the Publisher

2018-10-23

A study of how economic inequality affects individuals' self-perception and community life.

Drawing on recent peer-reviewed research in the U.S. and U.K., British researchers Wilkinson (Emeritus, Epidemiology/Univ. of Nottingham Medical School) and Pickett (Research Champion for Justice and Equality/Univ. of York) expand on and update the argument they put forth in their previous book, The Spirit Level (2009). In the first seven chapters, they analyze the psychological and social consequences of inequality, primarily self-doubt and social anxiety, which they find most prevalent in the two nations where inequality is greatest: the U.S. and the U.K. To deal with these two pervasive and debilitating effects, individuals develop strategies such as narcissism and self-aggrandizement, self-medication with drugs and alcohol, and consumerism "in an attempt to create a positive image of themselves." They may also become convinced that inequality is caused by meritocracy—inherent ability or hard work—thereby absolving themselves of responsibility for questioning social hierarchy. The authors cite "a widespread but largely false belief that people's social status reflects their individual genetic endowments of cognitive ability," when studies show that success is largely determined by parental social status. They also underscore the "increased social evaluative threat" generated by inequality: As people fear shame and distress because of what they imagine others think of them, they become distrustful and, "more worried about appearances and giving the wrong impression," withdraw from community life and political participation. Making a strong case that "inequality is divisive and socially corrosive," the authors assert that greater equality and environmental sustainability can be achieved by instituting changes such as employee representation on corporate boards and in legislative processes and an increase in cooperatives and employee-owned businesses to ensure that democracy is extended into the economic sphere. They acknowledge, however, that such developments will meet with resistance from CEOs, shareholders, and politicians with ties to the wealthy. Progressive politicians, therefore, must advocate this "major step in human progress."

A cogent, well-supported analysis and hopeful, if idealistic, suggestion for change.

Kirkus Reviews

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