In thier article, Starmans, Sheskin and Bloom presents the compelling argument that most people are concerned about fairness when it comes to distribution of resources, and prefer unequal outcomes, as long as there is a merit or needs based reason for the inequality.

A point to take away from this article is how easy it is to mislabel an effect, such as testing for equality, but in a fashion that is consistent with fairness; and assume one has tested for equality. A counfounder if ever there was.

A second point is more practical, if one wants to make the argument for a more equal distribution of resources, base the arguments on fairness!

Why people prefer unequal societies

Altmetric: 728 More detail Perspective Nature Human Behaviour 1, Article number: 0082 (2017) doi:10.1038/s41562-017-0082 Download Citation Published online: Anyone looking for evidence that people have a natural aversion to inequality will find numerous laboratory studies that seemingly confirm their view.

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