In The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, Jonathan Haidt summarizes the Fairness-Cheating foundation as evolving “in response to the adaptive challenge of reaping the rewards of cooperation without getting exploited. It makes us sensitive to indications that another person is likely to be a good (or bad) partner for collaboration and reciprocal altruism. It makes us want to shun or punish cheaters.” Haidt points out that liberals tend to view fairness in terms of equality while conservatives tend to view fairness in terms of proportionality.
In Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think, George Lakoff lists the fairness models below. In the list, I’ve bolded the models based on equality, italicized models based on proportionality, and underlined models based on legal rights or other external references, ex. the rules of a game, but the text is quoted from Lakoff.
- Equality of distribution (one child, one cookie)
- Equality of opportunity (one person, one raffle ticket)
- Procedural distribution (playing by the rules determines what you get)
- Rights-based fairness (you get what you have a right to)
- Need-based fairness (the more you need, the more you have a right to)
- Scalar distribution (the more you work, the more you get)
- Contractual distribution (you get what you agree to)
- Equal distribution of responsibility (we share the burden equally)
- Scalar distribution of responsibility (the greater your abilities, the greater your responsibilities)
- Equal distribution of power (one person, one vote)
Notice that all 10 models are fair individually, and that all 10 contradict each other; in other words, if one model is considered fairest, the other nine become unfair. That’s why contracts and rules specify which model should be used in a situation. Unless all parties agree to use the same model (definition) of fairness, there will be accusations of cheating.
While Haidt’s research indicates liberals tend to favor equality and conservatives tend to favor proportionality (what Lakoff terms scaler), I want to emphasize the word tend is important in those observations and that the tendencies change depending on the situation. For example, liberals generally support progressive tax rates (scaler distribution of responsibility), while conservatives generally support flat taxes (equal distribution of responsibility).
As a personal example, according to the Moral Foundations Questionnaire I took at www.YourMorals.org, my morality is most strongly influenced by the Fairness-Cheating foundation, but the specific model (from Lakoff’s work) I consider fairest depends on each situation’s specifics. In general, I believe all humans deserve equal opportunity and we each have a scaler distribution of responsibility in what we do. In terms of outcomes, I support scalar distribution when all parties are equally capable and need-based fairness when parties are unequal in their abilities.
Haidt’s Rightous Mind book was published in 2011. According to Moral Foundations Theory website, in 2023, a decade’s worth of additional research on MFT led to dividing the Fairness-Cheating foundation into these two foundations:
- Equality – which the website describes as “Intuitions about equal treatment and equal outcome for individuals”
- Proportionality – which the website describes as “Intuitions about individuals getting rewarded in proportion to their merit or contribution
I assume that means the bolded definitions of fairness in the top bulleted list are expressions of the new Equality foundation, while the italicized definitions of fairness in the top bulleted list are expressions of the new Proportionality foundation. It’s important to note the Equality foundation also includes “equal outcome for individuals” and that politically left-leaning individuals more strongly endorse this foundation. The Proportionality foundation “often endorsed by everyone but is slightly more strongly endorsed by politically right-leaning people.”
Liberals and conservatives often can’t agree on what’s fair because there are so many definitions of fairness. When discussing fairness with others, it’s helpful to check which definition, or at least which foundation (Equality or Proportionality) participants mean when they say something is fair or unfair.