Distributive Preferences and Need-Based Justice in Networks

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Bernhard Kittel
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2015 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 240285356

Network structures affect the ability to articulate one’s need claims and the power to enforce one’s preferences. Integrating ideas from the theory of social exchange networks, the sociology of justice, and behavioral economics, subproject B1 "Distributive Preferences and Need-based Justice in Networks" studies variations in the recognition of needs in dyadic negotiations that permit allocations to network members outside the dyad. Using two three-node networks – the triangle and the three-line – as examples of equal- and unequal-power networks, we showed in the 1st funding period that distributions negotiated in dyads do actually include outsiders and that the willingness to do so depends on the subjects’ social value orientations and the power structure of the network. We have also shown that subjects do take into account heterogeneous need levels. In the 2nd funding period, we further elaborate dimensions of network transparency, that is, the amount of information available about a node, in order to study scope restrictions in need recognition. In the first step, we explore the effect of transparency in the network on the scope of need satisfaction by introducing heterogeneity in two ways: First, we study the recognition of needs if individuals contribute to a joint production task before they bilaterally negotiate the distribution of the output. Second, we use arbitrary criteria to form group identities before subjects are allocated to networks in which they bilaterally negotiate distributions. In the next step, we study the effect of varying the size and density of the network on the recognition of needs. A third experiment increases the conflict level by substituting resource scarcity for abundance, which implies that at least one need claim cannot be satisfied. In a last step, we explore the congruence of attitudes and behavior and study the generalizability of the laboratory findings by comparing them to survey data.

• DFG Programme: Research Units
• Subproject of: FOR 2104: Needs-Based Justice and Distribution Procedures
• International Connection: Austria
• Partner Organisation: Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF)
• Co-Investigators: Privatdozentin Dr. Tanja Pritzlaff-Scheele; Professor Dr. Kai-Uwe Schnapp