Subjective evaluation of income (un)fairness
Contrasting principles of justice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6162803 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Oscar Mac-Clure (0000-0003-3905-4121, Universidad de Los Lagos, corresponding author), Luz María Ferrada (0000-0002-0481-7670, Universidad de Los Lagos) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 111 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | e3409-e3409 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Papers Revista de Sociologia (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0210-2862 • E-ISSN: 2013-9004 |
| Publisher | Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (PUBLISHER • ES) |
| DOI | 10.5565/rev/papers.3409 |
| OpenAlex | W7106831072 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 37 |
This study examines the extent to which individuals’ adherence to various principles of justice leads them to evaluate their income as (un)fair. We analyse individuals’ evaluations of income (un)fairness in relation to their own subjective social position, based on their declared identification with a vignette representing a given social stratum, paying special attention to the predominant evaluation of unfairness. Based on an overview of various principles of justice, we analyse responses to an open question in order to establish whether adherence to any of these principles is associated with that subjective assessment. We compare this with the influence of the individuals’ socio-economic characteristics relative to their objective social position. We use qualitative and quantitative data from a survey applied in 2024 to a statistically representative sample of 562 employed individuals from the province of Palena in Chile, selected randomly by district, household and individual. Results show that the principle of meritocracy based on education and entrepreneurship tends to be used to justify income inequality, while the opposite occurs with merit based on effort at work and the principle of need. However, some respondents’ socio-economic characteristics – in particular, having lower levels of income or education – are also associated with the likelihood that they will rate their income as unfair
Who’s for Meritocracy? Individual and Contextual Variations in the Faith
Principles of the Just Distribution of Benefits and Burdens
Need-Based Distributive Justice
The Undeserving Rich
Counting and multidimensional poverty measurement
Sociology of Justice
The Dark Side of Meritocratic Beliefs
Subjective Inequality
Individuals’ socioeconomic position, inequality perceptions, and redistributive preferences in OECD countries
Are fairness perceptions shaped by income inequality? evidence from Latin America
Merit and blame in unequal societies
Perceptions of meritocracy in the land of opportunity
Justifications of Inequality
A Multidimensional Approach for Measuring Meritocratic Beliefs
A Decade of System Justification Theory
Women and Human Development
Against Meritocracy
Can Subjective Questions on Economic Welfare Be Trusted
The paradox of inequality
Interseccionalidad
El Juicio Subjetivo sobre las Desigualdades Sociales
Evaluación de (in)justicia distributiva en jóvenes de Centroamérica
Enhancing the Validity and Cross-Cultural Comparability of Measurement in Survey Research
Differentiated Distributive Justice Preferences? Configurations of Preferences for Equality, Equity and Need in Three Welfare Domains
ENCONTRAR LA PosiciÓN DE UNO Mismo EN LA Sociedad. Una encuesta basada en viñetas
Unjust Income Inequality Prevails Across 29 Countries
The Legitimation of Rewards to Education
The Study of Boundaries in the Social Sciences
Justice
Thinking, Saying, Doing in the World of Distributive Justice
Legitimacy of Inequality in a Highly Unequal Context
Justice and Emotions
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |