Cumulative Inequality Aversion

Authors:

Abstract: While there is evidence that people both prefer inequality and are averse to it, scholars have argued that people do not care about inequality per se; they care about whether the inequality is fair. Indeed, because most people believe that meritocracy is fair, they accept meritocratic inequality—inequality that results from a merit-based process—as also fair. Yet this research construes inequality as the result of a single merit-based process. For example, because people believe that promoting the most qualified employee to a higher-paying position is fair, they accept the resulting inequality as fair. But inequality is not the result of a single meritocratic process. Unequal outcomes build on each other, creating cycles where positive outcomes make other positive outcomes more likely: “Success breeds success.” Inequality is cumulative. We hypothesize and show evidence that people are averse to inequality when they experience it as a cumulative process.

Track: DEI

Keywords: Inequality, Meritocracy, Fairness