How to explain the perception of inequalities in France?

Summary This article aims to examine several explanatory theories of the perception of social inequalities based on a questionnaire survey of a representative sample of French people supplemented by a series of qualitative interviews. The theory of "well understood interest" linked to social position, the possible effect of relative frustration mechanisms, and the effect of adherence to values in justifying economic inequalities will be examined. One of the original features of the survey we will use is to distinguish three registers of perception of inequalities: the perception of their strength in society, the degree to which they are judged to be more or less illegitimate, and finally the degree to which the person himself feels personally affected. The results show contrasting effects of the different explanatory variables according to these registers of perception of inequalities. Social position as well as relative frustration mechanisms explain well the personally felt impact, while they have practically no effect on the overall perception of social inequalities. Conversely, the latter is well explained by adherence to values. The global register of apprehension of inequalities is thus mainly dependent on ideological orientations, whereas the personal register is exclusively dependent on the position of individuals in the social stratification.