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Interplay between different forms of power and meritocratic considerations shapes fairness perceptions

Power imbalance often leads to unequal allocations. However, it remains largely unknown how different forms of power and meritocratic considerations interact to shape fairness perceptions. Using modified Ultimatum Games, we examined how two power forms—decision power and availability of attractive o...

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Autores principales: Lois, Giannis, Riedl, Arno
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9259606/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35794178
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15613-9
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author Lois, Giannis
Riedl, Arno
author_facet Lois, Giannis
Riedl, Arno
author_sort Lois, Giannis
collection PubMed
description Power imbalance often leads to unequal allocations. However, it remains largely unknown how different forms of power and meritocratic considerations interact to shape fairness perceptions. Using modified Ultimatum Games, we examined how two power forms—decision power and availability of attractive outside option—affect bargaining behavior and fairness perceptions, and how meritocratic considerations are incorporated into the fairness perceptions of powerful and powerless individuals. We identified an asymmetric power effect: having increased decision power or attractive outside options independently increased self-advantageous allocations and self-serving fairness perceptions, whereas the combined lack of both power forms led to self-disadvantageous allocations but had no influence on fairness perceptions. The power effect on fairness perceptions became symmetric when power was obtained through a meritocratic process (procedural justice). In contrast, relative contributions to resource production (distributive justice) did not moderate power effects. We provide causal evidence that the powerful, but not the powerless, strive to minimize cognitive dissonance between behavior and fairness perceptions by interpreting fairness in self-serving ways. This study contributes novel insights into the interplay between different power forms, the asymmetry of power effects, the moderating role of procedural justice, and the mediating role of behavior in the power-driven adjustment of fairness perceptions.
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spelling pubmed-92596062022-07-08 Interplay between different forms of power and meritocratic considerations shapes fairness perceptions Lois, Giannis Riedl, Arno Sci Rep Article Power imbalance often leads to unequal allocations. However, it remains largely unknown how different forms of power and meritocratic considerations interact to shape fairness perceptions. Using modified Ultimatum Games, we examined how two power forms—decision power and availability of attractive outside option—affect bargaining behavior and fairness perceptions, and how meritocratic considerations are incorporated into the fairness perceptions of powerful and powerless individuals. We identified an asymmetric power effect: having increased decision power or attractive outside options independently increased self-advantageous allocations and self-serving fairness perceptions, whereas the combined lack of both power forms led to self-disadvantageous allocations but had no influence on fairness perceptions. The power effect on fairness perceptions became symmetric when power was obtained through a meritocratic process (procedural justice). In contrast, relative contributions to resource production (distributive justice) did not moderate power effects. We provide causal evidence that the powerful, but not the powerless, strive to minimize cognitive dissonance between behavior and fairness perceptions by interpreting fairness in self-serving ways. This study contributes novel insights into the interplay between different power forms, the asymmetry of power effects, the moderating role of procedural justice, and the mediating role of behavior in the power-driven adjustment of fairness perceptions. Nature Publishing Group UK 2022-07-06 /pmc/articles/PMC9259606/ /pubmed/35794178 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15613-9 Text en © The Author(s) 2022, corrected publication 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) .
spellingShingle Article
Lois, Giannis
Riedl, Arno
Interplay between different forms of power and meritocratic considerations shapes fairness perceptions
title Interplay between different forms of power and meritocratic considerations shapes fairness perceptions
title_full Interplay between different forms of power and meritocratic considerations shapes fairness perceptions
title_fullStr Interplay between different forms of power and meritocratic considerations shapes fairness perceptions
title_full_unstemmed Interplay between different forms of power and meritocratic considerations shapes fairness perceptions
title_short Interplay between different forms of power and meritocratic considerations shapes fairness perceptions
title_sort interplay between different forms of power and meritocratic considerations shapes fairness perceptions
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9259606/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35794178
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15613-9
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