Cross-Cultural Differences in Distributive Justice: A Comparison of Turkey and the U.S.

ABSTRACT

When allocators make decisions about distributing resources, they face a dilemma if the expectations for consequences that will flow from particular choices are incongruent with each other. For example, a certain allocation choice might be expected to make an allocator appear warm and likable but unfair. Previous research has found that culture can shape these perceptions and, thus, their congruence or incongruence. The present study further investigated these ideas. Differences between Turkish and U.S. students' perceptions of allocators who distributed resources on the basis of merit vs. need were investigated. Results revealed an allocation dilemma among the U.S. but not among the Turkish students. Specifically, the U.S. students perceived greater incongruence among allocation consequences for both merit and need choices than did the students from Turkey for whom perceptions of allocator's fairness were more aligned with perceptions of allocator's warmth.

Keywords:

• cross-cultural studies
• decision making
• fairness

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Virginia A. Murphy-Berman

Virginia A. Murphy-Berman and John J. Berman are Professors of psychology at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York, USA. They have taught and published extensively in the area of cross-cultural psychology.

Cem Şafak Çukur

Cem Şafak Çukur received his PhD in social psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA. He is currently affiliated with Yildirim Beyazit Üniversitesi in Ankara, Turkey.