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Can cognitive dissonance explain beliefs regarding meritocracy?
1Department of Social Sciences, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Getafe, Spain.
Social Science Research
|April 12, 2024
Summary
Economically disadvantaged individuals may perceive inequality as fair, not due to meritocracy, but when they lack control over their circumstances, leading to a fatalistic outlook.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
- Justice Studies
Background:
- Economically disadvantaged populations often perceive inequality as fair.
- Meritocracy, where fairness is tied to effort and input, is a common explanation.
- However, real-world uncertainty in income and merit distribution complicates this.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate why disadvantaged individuals legitimize their disadvantage.
- To test the theory that cognitive dissonance drives the perception of fairness in inequality.
- To explore the role of control in perceptions of economic inequality.
Main Methods:
- An online experiment was conducted to test the cognitive dissonance theory.
- Qualitative data analysis was used to understand the psychological responses to inequality and control.
Main Results:
- The study did not find support for cognitive dissonance as a mechanism for perceiving meritocracy.
- Disadvantaged individuals were more likely to view inequality as fair when they lacked control.
- Deprivation of control was linked to a fatalistic response to inequality.
Conclusions:
- Cognitive dissonance does not appear to be the primary driver for disadvantaged individuals accepting inequality.
- Lack of control, rather than perceived merit, significantly influences the acceptance of inequality.
- A sense of fatalism emerges when individuals feel a deprivation of control.
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