The Influence Of Social Distance On Fair Distribution: The Mediating Role Of Intelligent Reasoning

Wisdom and justice have been important qualities for mankind since ancient times.In real life,the wise reasoning,distribution strategy and behavior of individuals are often affected by social distance.In the past studies,the judgment of distributive justice was mainly based on the principle of equity,equality,and the need.The classic economic game(e.g.,dictator game)was used to focus on the equal distribution.However,due to the differences of individual's efforts,luck and rational ability,people do not agree with equal distribution,but prefer the society with unequal economy.The main distribution of this society is the distribution according to work which is according to individual differences.But with the negative impact of wealth inequality,distribution according to work can't reflect justice.In Rawls' s theory of justice,he pointed out that “social and economic inequality” should be “conducive to the best interests of the most disadvantaged members of society”,that is,real justice involves the balance between inequality and vulnerable groups.Wisdom can balance all kinds of aspects,especially the intrapersonal,interpersonal and extrapersonal interests,which coincide with Rawls' s theory of justice.Based on this,this study put distribution of equality,according to work,and balance(that is,on the basis of distribution according to work,to make certain compensation for the weak)into the same situation for investigation,and further explores the relationship among social distance,wise reasoning and just distribution,in order to provide a new perspective for promoting individuals more wisdom and justice.Study 1 aims to explore the connotation of distributive justice from the perspective of the veil of ignorance.The experiment is two-factor mixed experimental design.perspective is an inter-group variable with three levels,which are divided into perspective of the strong,the weak,and the curtain of ignorance.Distributive pattern is intra-group variable with three levels,which are divided into Distribution according to work,balanced distribution,and equal distribution.The dependent variable is the sense of justice of the subjects.This study got 192 effective records based on questionnaire of story situation as the main tool.It is found that the main effect of perspective and distributive pattern is significant,and the interaction between perspective and distributive pattern is significant.Besides,under the veil of ignorance,compared with equal distribution and distribution according to work,individuals have the highest just sense of the balanced distribution that gives certain compensation to the weak.Study 2 aimed to explore the relationship between wise reasoning and distributive justice.This study conducted an Internet-based research and got 430 effective records based on the story situation questionnaire and Situated Wise Reasoning Scale.The results show that there is a positive correlation between wise reasoning and distributive justice,that is,the higher wise reasoning of subjects,the more likely they were to choose balanced distribution.Study 3 aimed to explore the relationship among social distance,wise reasoning and distributive justice,and initially explore the mediating role of wise reasoning between social distance and distributive justice.This study got 371 effective records based on the story situated questionnaire and Situated Wise Reasoning Scale adapted from assigned stories.The results show that when the social distance between the distributor and the receiver is changed in the story,the tendency of subjects' just distribution will change significantly,that is,individuals are more inclined to balance distribution when the social distance is closer.Wise reasoning plays a partial mediating role between social distance and distributive justice.In sum,three conclusions were drawn in study:(1)Under veil of ignorance,balanced distribution is more just than distribution according to work and equal distribution;(2)The higher the level of wise reasoning,the more just the distribution;(3)The closer social distance helps to improve the level of wise reasoning of individuals in the distributive situation,and encourages individuals to make more just decisions.