A model of equal opportunity

Fairness assumptions have a lot of positive consequences. For
example, is the perceived justice relevant to job satisfaction and
attitudes towards distributions of social goods. But what is a fair
distribution of social goods? In the distributive justice research
three principles can be distinguished according to which justice
judgments are made: Need, equality and equity. The first article of
this dissertation examines how justice for these three principles
is perceived. With the model of equal opportunity it is assumed
that the assumption of equality between the stakeholders is crucial
to the justice judgment. Depending on whether equal opportunity is
accepted or not, different principles are perceived. The results in
the context of education confirm that the perception of the three
principles of justice can be explained by the assumption of equal
opportunities. Whether equal opportunity is accepted or not depends
on the attitude to equal opportunities. In attitude research it is
becoming increasingly obvious that implicit (automatic) and
explicit (reflected) attitudes influence behaviour. The
investigation of implicit and explicit attitudes to equal
opportunities and the investigation of the model of equal
opportunity in a different context are discussed in the second
article of the present dissertation. It is discussed whether
cognitive dissonance can dissolve the conclusion that people who
implicitly assume equal opportunities prefer need-based
distributions. The results in an economic context confirm that it
is useful in justice research to differentiate between implicit and
explicit attitudes. The third article brings into focus also an
economic context it is postulated that the self-concept, namely the
whole set of attitudes, opinions, and cognitions that a person has
of himself, has an influence on the perception of the three
principles of justice and on the model of equal opportunity. The
third article of this dissertation examines whether the
interdependent self-concept influences the choice of principles of
justice. The results confirm this assumption.