Economic inequality may fuel frustration, possibly leading to anger and antisocial behavior. We experimentally study a situation where only the rich can reduce inequality while the poor can express their discontent by destroying the wealth of a rich counterpart with whom they had no previous interaction. We test whether the emergence of antisocial behavior depends only on the level of inequality, or also on the conditions under which inequality occurs. We compare an environment in which the rich can unilaterally reduce inequality with one where generosity makes them vulnerable to exploitation by the poor. We observe more antisocial behavior when reducing inequality would be safe for the rich. This cannot be rationalized by inequality aversion alone, while it is in line with models of anger as the result of frustrated expectations. Indeed, the rich are expected to be more generous in the safe scenario, but this hope is systematically violated.

经济不平等可能会加剧挫败感，并可能导致愤怒和反社会行为。我们通过实验研究了一种情况，即只有富人才能减少不平等，而穷人却可以通过破坏以前没有互动的富人的财富来表达不满。我们测试了反社会行为的出现是否仅取决于不平等的程度，还是取决于不平等发生的条件。我们将富人可以单方面减少不平等的环境与慷慨使他们容易受到穷人剥削的环境进行了比较。当减少不平等对于富人来说是安全的时候，我们观察到更多的反社会行为。不能仅仅通过不平等厌恶来使之合理化，尽管这与沮丧的期望所导致的愤怒模型是一致的。确实，