Psychological Constraints on Egalitarianism: The Challenge of Just World Beliefs

Abstract

Debates over egalitarianism for the most part are not concerned with constraints on achieving an egalitarian society, beyond discussions of the deficiencies of egalitarian theory itself. This paper looks beyond objections to egalitarianism as such and investigates the relevant psychological processes motivating people to resist various aspects of egalitarianism. I argue for two theses, one normative and one descriptive. The normative thesis holds that egalitarians must take psychological constraints into account when constructing egalitarian ideals. I draw from non-ideal theories in political philosophy, which aim to construct moral goals with current social and political constraints in mind, to argue that human psychology must be part of a non-ideal theory of egalitarianism. The descriptive thesis holds that the most fundamental psychological challenge to egalitarian ideals comes from what are called Just World Beliefs. A troubling result of Just World Beliefs, one that poses a prima facie obstacle to egalitarianism, is that people tend to dismiss or explain away any threats to their belief that the world is fundamentally just. The pervasiveness and severity of Just World Beliefs predicts that people will be resistant to egalitarian policies. My aim is to show how research on Just World Beliefs can help diagnose common problems for egalitarianism and assist in making realistic recommendations for bringing current societies closer to egalitarian ideals.

Equal Pay as a Precondition of Justice?

“…Crucial to defending the claims we make about the effects of unequal pay is the Just World Fallacy. Previous research that has attempted to apply the Just World Fallacy to various ethical and political issues has focused on the obstacles it presents to egalitarianism in the form of psychological resistance (Kasperbauer 2015), whether or not a belief in a just world should be encouraged by parents and teachers (Kristjánsson 2004), and whether business organizations can constitute Aristotelian communities (Sinnicks 2020). We believe that the Just World Fallacy can also ground an argument in favour of equal pay for all.…”