How economic success shapes redistribution: The role of self-serving beliefs, in-group bias and justice principles.

Camille Dorin (1) , Marine Hainguerlot (2, 1) , Hélène Huber-Yahi (1, 3) , Jean-Christophe Vergnaud (1) , Vincent de Gardelle (1, 3)

1 CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne
2 Erasmus University Rotterdam
3 PSE - Paris School of Economics

In the face of economic inequalities, redistribution of wealth is a key debate forsociety, and understanding the reasons why individuals may support moreor less re-distribution can inform this debate. Here we investigate the mechanisms by whichexperiencing success in a task decreases the support for redistribution of the wealthgenerated by the task, such that overachievers favor less redistribution than under-achievers. In a laboratory experiment, we replicate this effect and explore how it thatmay be mediated by an in-group bias, or by changes in individuals’ principlesof redis-tributive justice. Critically, both in-group favoritism and self-serving adjustments ofjustice principles partially accounted for the effect of status on redistribution choices.Our study thus sheds new light on the various ways by which economic experienceaffects support for redistribution.

Mots clés: redistribution; self-serving bias; fairness; dictator game

Domaines: Psychologie

Camille Dorin, Marine Hainguerlot, Hélène Huber-Yahi, Jean-Christophe Vergnaud, Vincent de Gardelle. How economic success shapes redistribution: The role of self-serving beliefs, in-group bias and justice principles.. Judgment and Decision Making, 2021, 16 (4), pp.932-949. ⟨hal-03329203⟩