Lost in Taxation: Misunderstanding the Progressive Tax System Undermines Support for Redistribution

Progressive taxation effectively reduces economic inequality; however, support for this form of wealth redistribution remains low. We examine across three studies (two cross-sectional studies; Ntotal = 519 and one experiment; N = 400) whether and how the complexity of progressive taxation affects its support. Specifically, we investigate two key sources of complexity: (1) individuals' general ability to process complex information (analytical thinking), and (2) the way progressive taxation is explained (experimentally manipulated in Study 2). We tested whether analytical thinking and message complexity influence support for progressive taxation through three psychological pathways: a cognitive pathway (objective understanding); a metacognitive pathway (perceived understanding); and an emotional pathway (negative emotional responses to progressive taxation). We found that both analytical thinking and message complexity affect support for progressive taxation, through the cognitive pathway on the one hand, and through metacognitive and emotional pathways on the other. These findings highlight the importance of accessible communication and individual-level characteristics for support for redistributive policies.