Attitudes towards the inheritance tax: paradoxical thinking and misinformation / Actitudes hacia el impuesto sobre sucesiones: pensamiento paradójico y desinformación

Abstract

The detrimental effects of inequality have been demonstrated. However, although tax-based wealth redistribution can reduce it, part of the population rejects them due to partially inaccurate and erroneous beliefs disseminated through misinformation campaigns. This research explores the mechanisms that explain the opposition to the inheritance tax, a controversial tax figure. Through an experimental study, we analysed whether exposing anti-tax participants (37.8% women, M_age = 39.65, SD_age = 14.27) to an exaggerated and absurd message aligned with their tax beliefs — paradoxical thinking strategy — influenced participants’ perceptions and behavioural intentions. Contrary to predictions from paradoxical thinking, the results revealed that participants exposed to the paradoxical thinking message exhibited more extreme anti-tax beliefs and behavioural dispositions than those who received a control message. Furthermore, participants who perceived the sender as trustworthy polarized their position against the tax. These results highlight the factors contributing to the rejection of certain redistributive policies, expose the detrimental impact of misinformation campaigns, question the applicability of paradoxical thinking in some contexts and emphasize the influence of perceived credibility on message acceptance.