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Deservingness Judgments

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Judgments about who deserves wealth and social rewards are primarily guided by two normative principles: meritocracy (effort and responsibility) and morality (benevolent intentions and concern for others' welfare). Although these principles often align, they can conflict when information about how wealth was obtained diverges from information about moral character. Beyond these factors, deservingness judgments may also depend on social closeness. Hence, in this within-subjects study (N = 106), we tested the hypothesis that deservingness judgments are jointly shaped by moral character, source of wealth, and social favoritism. U.S. adults evaluated targets who obtained money through hard work, luck, or theft and who varied in moral value orientation (benevolence, security, or hedonism). Participants rated each target's deservingness, evaluated a close friend in parallel, and reported their own value priorities and endorsement of meritocratic beliefs. Results showed that the source of wealth exerted the strongest influence on deservingness judgments: hard work was rated highest and theft lowest. Moral character independently shaped evaluations, particularly when wealth was obtained through luck, but did not override strong merit violations (e.g., theft). Participants also displayed consistent favoritism toward close others, though stronger endorsement of meritocratic principles constrained this favoritism. Together, these findings suggest that deservingness judgments reflect structured integration of meritocracy and morality. SPOSSOSOH SSH SOSH OH OHSS OHO HSS OCHO OH OO SHE OHO SCOHOESOEECOHOHEO

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University of Chicago

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Deservingness Judgments