How justice sensitivity predicts equality preferences in simulated democratic systems

We investigated whether justice sensitivity predicts distributional preferences in democratic systems. We hypothesized that persons who are genuinely concerned about the just treatment of others (other-sensitive persons) exhibit stable preferences for equal distributions irrespective of their self-interest, whereas individuals who predominantly care about a just treatment for themselves (victim-sensitive persons) prefer equality only if they benefit from it. In a welfare state game, subjects were randomly assigned to different societal classes. Majority vote subsequently determined whether a high or low equality distribution would be established. As predicted, other-sensitive persons showed a general preference for high equality. In contrast, victim-sensitive persons preferred either high or low equality depending on whether the one or the other was in their monetary self-interest.