A total of 297 MTurk members (58% female, Mage ¼
35) completed the survey for a small monetary payment using
an online survey software. We used a 2 (power distance
belief: high, low) 2 (price condition: high, low) 3 (salience
of price: enhanced, reduced, unchanged) betweensubjects
design.
Power Distance Belief Manipulation. As in study 1,
participants were told that the survey was composed of
unrelated tasks that were combined for the sake of efficiency.
The first task manipulated power distance belief
following Zhang et al. (2010). Participants read the following
statement: “There should be an order of inequality in
this world in which everyone has a rightful place; high and
low are protected by this order.” In the high (low) power
distance belief condition, participants wrote three reasons
supporting (opposing) this statement (Nhigh PDB ¼ 147;
Nlow PDB ¼ 150).
The power distance belief manipulation was validated
via a pilot study (N ¼ 102) that revealed that participants
in the high (vs. low) power distance belief condition reported
greater belief in hierarchy and inequality (as measured
by the 3 item power distance belief scale used in the
pilot study reported in study 1; a ¼ .96; Mhigh PDB ¼ 3.44,
Mlow PDB ¼ 2.37; t(100) ¼ 2.58, p < .05, d ¼ .52), suggesting
that the manipulation was effective.