Thoughts that Count: Fairness and Possibilities, Intentions and Reactions

28 Pages Posted: 15 May 2013

See all articles by Kurt A. Carlson

Kurt A. Carlson

Mason School of Business, William and Mary; Georgetown University - Department of Marketing

David F. Sally

Independent

Date Written: May 14, 2013

Abstract

All forms of perception are subject to context effects arising from the background, contrast with surrounding objects, and the relationship of the perceiver with the object. Fairness is simply the perceived goodness of an act that affects someone in addition to the actor. As a perception, then, fairness should be dependent upon the surrounding choice set of the actor, his previous actions, his intentions, and his identity. We present a simple experiment that involves a context in which an uneven allocation is, nevertheless, judged fair and responded to positively. Accordingly, fairness models that rely solely on difference aversion must be supplemented by a deeper understanding of constructive preferences and social interaction. In addition to fairness, possibilities and intentions are shown to be critical to an understanding of apologies, well-being, euphemisms, criminal sentencing, and prenuptial agreements.

Keywords: fairness, judgement, choice, preference, intent, identity

JEL Classification: M31

Suggested Citation

Carlson, Kurt A. and Sally, David, Thoughts that Count: Fairness and Possibilities, Intentions and Reactions (May 14, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2264870 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2264870

Kurt A. Carlson (Contact Author)

Mason School of Business, William and Mary ( email )

P.O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
United States

Georgetown University - Department of Marketing ( email )

Washington, DC 20057
United States

David Sally

Independent

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