Need Consideration in Allocation Decisions: Is it Just?

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Abstract
The assumption was examined that need-considering allocations follow a social responsibility norm and are in conflict with distributive justice norms. In a questionnaire experiment, 48 male Ss indicated how they would allocate money between two hypothetical persons who needed different sums of money but contributed equally toward earning the money. Experimental variations included the absence/presence of a request to allocate justly and the interpersonal attraction between the recipients. Given a just-allocation request, need consideration was found (i.e., the needier person received significantly more than half of the profit) in both attraction conditions. In the absence of a just-allocation request, need consideration was found only in the high-attraction condition.