Seeing without suffering, suffering without seeing: perception and tolerance of inequality in Peru

Abstract

Why do those who suffer most from inequality also perceive it the least? This article examines this paradox using data from the two available editions of Peru’s National Survey on Perceptions of Inequality (ENADES 2022 and 2024), produced by the Instituto de Estudios Peruanos and OXFAM Peru. Using multiple correspondence analysis, ordered logistic regression, and intergenerational social origin analysis, the study compares the evolution of inequality perception, attributed causes, and tolerance between both periods. Results confirm the perceptual paradox persists: the highest socioeconomic group (NSE A/B) perceives higher levels of inequality (67.7%) than the lowest (NSE D/E, 43.3%), despite experiencing it to a lesser extent. Three findings emerge in 2024. First, the middle class becomes a significant predictor of higher inequality perception; second, «knowing the right people» displaces the purely meritocratic model as the second most cited cause of economic success; and third, right-wing ideology becomes a significant predictor of greater tolerance in a pre-electoral context. Social origin analysis shows that upwardly mobile individuals who accessed higher education from disadvantaged backgrounds perceive less inequality than their privileged-origin peers, which is consistent with the role that the literature attributes to meritocratic narratives in concealing structural barriers.