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I win it’s fair, you win it’s not. Selective heeding of merit in ambiguous settings

Author

Listed:
  • Serhiy Kandul
  • Olexandr Nikolaychuk

Abstract

One’s willingness to accept an outcome or even to correct it depends on whether the underlying procedure is deemed legitimate. We examine a modified version of the dictator game, where dictatorship is assigned by a fair procedure that is linked to the participant actions but in effect is completely random, to illustrate that this belief is not independent of the outcome and is self-serving in its nature. We also discuss the perceptions of fairness and merit as potential drivers of the observed behavioral phenomenon.

Suggested Citation

  • Serhiy Kandul & Olexandr Nikolaychuk, 2023. "I win it’s fair, you win it’s not. Selective heeding of merit in ambiguous settings," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(1), pages 1-11, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0279865
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0279865
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    References listed on IDEAS

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