Legitimation of Inequality over the Lifespan: New and Old Dynamics of Justice at Work

• Applicants: Dr. Jule Adriaans; Professor Dr. Stefan Liebig; Professor Dr. Carsten Sauer
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 560889370

Germany is facing a rapid decline in its skilled workforce due to demographic shifts. This trend will increase workforce diversity in terms of age, gender, and migration background, driven by the need for more migrant workers and those currently outside the labor force. As a result, the balance of power between employers and skilled employees will shift, leading to higher employee mobility and turnover. To retain skilled workers, job attractiveness and perceived fairness in working conditions will become crucial. This project aims to examine how workforce diversity and the rise of more mobile career paths influence employees' justice attitudes - especially the subjective evaluations of work outcomes (e.g., fair pay), decision-making processes (e.g., hiring practices), and interpersonal treatment (e.g., conflict resolution). These attitudes align with the three dimensions of justice: distributive, procedural, and interactional. Previous research shows that justice attitudes are context-dependent and evolve as individuals experience different life stages. Given the impact of demographic changes and shifting workforce dynamics, these attitudes are likely to change. However, there is limited empirical evidence on how justice attitudes evolve at the individual level, as most studies have been cross-sectional, comparing attitudes between, rather than within, individuals. To fill this gap, this study proposes adding a third wave of data collection to the two-wave panel study "Legitimation of Inequality Over the Lifespan". Using the LINOS panel and a refreshment sample, survey data will be linked to administrative employment records from the Federal Employment Agency. This dataset will address three objectives: (1) understanding how justice attitudes stabilize or change as individuals move through different social contexts and life stages, (2) assessing the impact of employment biographies on these attitudes, and (3) exploring how diverse workplace interactions shape justice perceptions.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants