Changing Perceptions of Fairness: Group Identity, Locus of Merit and Need, and the Preference for Norms of Allocation
Pandey, V. & Joseph, G.K.
Abstract:
The present paper analyzes the changing perceptions of social justice with reference to (disadvantaged & non-disadvantaged) group identity and the (internal & external) locus of merit and need. Reiterating the Platonic definition, a large number of discourses introduce justice as deservingness, which is predominately grounded on merit. However, collectivist democratic societies allow greater care for the need of individuals over the criteria of equality and merit. This preference may be further explained in relation to the dual locus of need and merit, i.e., internal and external. Internal locus of need refers to the recipient’s own deprived condition, whereas external locus of need denotes the disadvantaged status of the group which one belongs to. Internal merit is the candidate’s intrinsic worth and external merit depends on one’s luck to be a member of an advantaged group. Having primarily concerned with the external needs of individuals, collectivist societies fail to give adequate attention to internal merit, external merit, and internal need of recipients. The present study unveils the problem of perceived injustice in collectivist public policies that are predominantly external need focused. Contrary to prevailing views, the study finds that 1) irrespective of the specificity of situations, merit preference is significantly higher than need preference, 2) perceived fairness is higher when resources are allocated to the meritorious, 3) perceived injustice is higher when merit is overlooked, 4) in a collectivistic social context, the presence of injustice is perceived to be higher than justice, and 5) while expressing perceived injustice, legality gains greater attention than ethical considerations. Accordingly, the paper responds to five major issues. 1) What accounts to the preference for merit over need? 2) Why loci of internal and external merit and need are being ignored? 3) Why even the disadvantaged do not recommend need, specially the external, as the norm of allocation? 4) What prompts them to perceive the dominant presence of injustice over justice? 5) Why legality is more emphasized than basic principles of justice? The study explicates inherent errors in formulating public policies which happen to be in conflict with collective perceptions mainly because of the unreliable criteria used in identifying disadvantages. It is argued that greater attention is to be paid to locate sociopolitical mechanisms that account to paradigmatic shifts in social perceptions which in turn modify the preference for norms of resource allocation. Among other things, the study exposes the dilemmatic state of affairs endemic to public policies that satisfy neither the disadvantaged nor the non-disadvantaged.
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APA citation
- Pandey, V., & Joseph, G. K. (2014). Changing Perceptions of Fairness: Group Identity, Locus of Merit and Need, and the Preference for Norms of Allocation. International Journal of Social Sciences, III(1), 02–18.