Theorizing the impact of fairness perceptions on the demand for redistribution

Abstract

Prior research shows that fairness judgements regarding the income distribution have a substantive impact on redistribution preferences. Those who perceive incomes as unfair demand more redistribution. However, the association is undertheorized in previous studies. This article adds to the literature by offering a comprehensive theoretical explanation of why incomes are perceived as unfair and how this influences the demand for redistribution. Based on equity theory from social psychology, it is argued that individuals develop a preference for redistribution if they consider their own income and incomes in general to be disproportional to relevant exchanged inputs. They assess proportionality by using social comparisons with observable reference groups such as colleagues, family members or other labour market participants. Multilevel models with survey data from 39 diverse countries support this theory. Individuals who perceive their own income as disproportional in comparison to their efforts and those who perceive incomes in general as disproportional demand more redistribution. These findings have several implications for research on political economy and social policy. Most importantly, they explain the inconclusive results of empirical tests of rational choice theories such as the medianvoter hypothesis.

Temporal change in inequality perceptions and effects on political attitudes

“…In line with recent studies, meritocracy belief has a consistently negative effect on redistribution attitudes (Mijs 2019) and social status a negative effect on inequality attitudes (Fatke 2018; Duman 2019). 4 The own pay just variable is only available for the later two survey years but has the expected negative effect on redistribution attitudes (Ahrens 2019). Most important for this study, introducing these additional controls corroborates its main results.…”

Basic social justice orientations—measuring order-related justice in the European Social Survey Round 9

“…Closer inspection of correlations by country shows a heterogeneous picture with both positive and negative effects that seem to follow a North-South divide with negative effects in Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, and positive effects in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Explanations for these heterogeneous patterns may relate to country differences in the extent to which individuals perceive redistribution through government intervention as a valid measure to address existing inequity in the distribution of income (Ahrens 2019). Interestingly, there seems to be an overlap between the countries where we observed positive correlations between agreement with the equity item and the evaluation of more pronounced injustice at the top and bottom of the income distribution.…”

Assessing the Effects of District-Level Segregation on Meritocratic Beliefs in Germany

“…In fact, higher levels of inequality are related to less social mobility (Brunori et al 2013). It follows that the extent to which individuals believe that success and failure are the result of meritocratic processes explains if, and to what degree, inequality is perceived negatively (Ahrens 2019). If meritocratic beliefs are strong and processes are believed to be equitable, unequal outcomes will be seen as fair (Almås et al 2022).…”