Journal of Iranian Public Administration Studies

Journal of Iranian Public Administration Studies

Learning about Socio-Economic Inequality and Reduced Perceived Fairness of Meritocracy: An Experimental Study

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Zeinab Molavi
Corresponding Author, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Management and Accounting, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran.
10.22034/jipas.2024.460245.1713
Abstract
Meritocratic beliefs are frequently invoked to justify inequality without accounting for individuals' socio-economic backgrounds. This study aims to examine how awareness of background inequalities influences perceptions of fairness in meritocratic hiring practices. A total of 894 students from 12 universities were selected through convenience sampling and participated in three experimental studies. In the first study, 317 students were randomly assigned to two groups to assess the impact of no information versus unequal background information on three key variables. Independent t-test results indicated that knowledge of background disparities significantly moderated beliefs about meritocratic selection, with a very strong effect size (1.434) between the groups. In the second study, 264 participants were divided into four conditions (no information, background inequality information, background advantage information, and background disadvantage information). In the third study, 313 participants were divided into three groups (no information, targeted background inequality information, and general background inequality information). One-way multivariate analyses in both the second and third studies revealed that participants who received information on background inequalities showed moderated perceptions regarding equal opportunity, fairness of outcomes, and the meritocratic hiring process. This research does not argue against the utility of meritocracy, but rather suggests that meritocratic criteria should be reassessed to consider individuals' socio-economic backgrounds, including psychological and functional variables. Reliance solely on individual achievements, which may not always reflect true ability, is questioned.
Keywords
Meritocracy
Perceived Fairness
Socio-Economic Inequality
Fair Hiring
سندل، مایکل (1401). استبداد شایستگی. ترجمه صبا نوروزی، تهران: انتشارات پارسه.
عبد صبور، فریدون (1392). ارائه الگوی مفهوم‌سازی و آسیب‌شناسی شایسته‌سالاری در سازمان. مطالعات منابع انسانی، سال 3، شماره 10، 44-21.
مولوی، زینب (1403). جنبه تاریک شایسته‌سالاری در سازمان: انباشتگی نابرابری اجتماعی از طریق کار. مدیریت سازمان‌های دولتی، سال 12، شماره 3، 34-21.
Alesina, A., and Glaeser, E. (2004). Fighting poverty in the US and Europe: A world of difference. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Alesina, A., and Angeletos, G. M. (2005). Fairness and redistribution. American Economic Review, 95(4), 960–980.
Almås, I., Cappelen, A. W., & Tungodden, B. (2020). Cutthroat capitalism versus cuddly socialism: Are Americans more meritocratic and efficiency-seeking than Scandinavians? Journal of Political Economy, 128(5), 1753.
Abd Sabour, F. (2013). Presenting a model for conceptualizing and diagnosing meritocracy in organizations. Human Resources Studies, 3(10), 21-44. (In Persian)
Bobocel, D. R., Son Hing, L. S., Davey, L. M., Stanley, D. J., & Zanna, M. P. (1998). Justice-based opposition to social policies: Is it genuine? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(3), 653–669.
Bugbee, M. (2022). The myth of the meritocracy in law firms and corporate legal departments. Intellectual Property Owners Association’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee.
Cappelen, A. W., Hole, A. D., Sørensen, E. Ø., & Tungodden, B. (2007). The pluralism of fairness ideals: An experimental approach. American Economic Review, 97(3), 818–827.
Castilla, E. J., & Ranganathan, A. (2020). The production of merit: How managers understand and apply merit in the workplace. Organization Science, 31(4), 909–935.
Cohen, J. (1990). Things I Have Learned (So Far). American Psychologist, 45(12), 1304-1312.
Davey, L. M., Bobocel, D. R., Son Hing, L. S., & Zanna, M. P. (1999). Preference for the Merit Principle Scale: An individual difference measure of distributive justice preferences. Social Justice Research, 12(3), 223–240.
Fehr, D., & Vollmann, M. (2022). Misperceiving Economic Success: Experimental Evidence on Meritocratic Beliefs and Inequality Acceptance. CESifo Working Paper, No. 9983.
Fiedler, K., Harris, C., & Schott, M. (2018). Unwarranted inferences from statistical mediation tests—An analysis of articles published in 2015. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 75, 95–102.
Gomez, V. (2022). U.S. public continues to view grades, test scores as top factors in college admissions. Pew Research Center.
Goya-Tocchetto, D., Kay, A. C., & Payne, B. K. (2024). Can selecting the most qualified candidate be unfair? Learning about socioeconomic advantages and disadvantages reduces the perceived fairness of meritocracy and increases support for socioeconomic diversity initiatives in organizations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General.
Ingram, P., & Oh, J. J. (2020). Mapping the class ceiling: The social class disadvantage for attaining management positions. Academy of Management Discoveries, 8(1), 56–76.
Mijs, J. (2019). The paradox of inequality: income inequality and belief in meritocracy go hand in hand. Socio-Economic Review, 19(1), 7–35.
Molavi, Z. (2024). The dark side of meritocracy in organizations: The accumulation of social inequality through work. Journal of Public Organization Management, 12(3), 21-34. (In Persian)
Moreira, D., & Pérez, S. (2022). Who Benefits from Meritocracy. NBER Working Paper No. 30113, June 2022.
Phillips, L. T., Jun, S., & Shakeri, A. (2022). Barriers and boosts: Using inequity frames theory to expand understanding of mechanisms of race and gender inequity. Academy of Management Annals, 16(2), 547–587.
Piketty, T. (2020). Capital and Ideology. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Sandel, M. (2022). The Tyranny of Merit. Tehran: Pars Publication. (In Persian)
Son Hing, L. S., Bobocel, D. R., & Zanna, M. P. (2002). Meritocracy and opposition to affirmative action: Making concessions in the face of discrimination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(3), 493–509.
Tyagi, K. (2023). Redefining a normative framework for Meritocracy in the era of Generative AI: An Inter-disciplinary perspective. Available at SSRN.
Van Dijk, H. V., Kooij, D., Karanika-Murray, M., Vos, A. D., & Meyer, B. (2020). Meritocracy a myth? A multilevel perspective of how social inequality accumulates through work. Organizational Psychology Review, 10(3-4), 240-269.
Young, M. (1958). The Rise of the Meritocracy. London: Thames and Hudson.
Young, M. (1998). Meritocracy Revisited. Society, January/February, 377-379.
Zhang, T. (2024). The illusion of meritocracy. Social Science Information, 63(9), 114-128.

  • Receive Date 06 December 2023
  • Revise Date 07 February 2024
  • Accept Date 23 February 2024