Self-Perceptions of Fairness in Individual and Group Contexts

Abstract

Six studies explored self-enhancing beliefs about own fairness relative to others. Persons reported that it is fair to base punishment on a transgressor's responsibility for his or her actions, that they base their rewards and punishments more strongly on a target's responsibility than do others, and that others, but not the self; reward and punish in-group and out-group members differently. Collectively, these results reveal that persons define their own superior fairness in terms of judicious use of responsibility information and lack of bias. In contrast, own assistance to the terminally ill was not described as more strongly based on responsibility, suggesting that definitions of fairness shift depending on context. Finally, persons consistently described themselves as relatively benevolent. Results are discussed in relation to expressions of intergroup bias and the maintenance of fairness self perceptions.