Replication Data for: The talent paradox: Why is it fair to reward talent but not luck?

This paper investigates how people differentiate between inequality caused by talent and inequality caused by luck in a large-scale study of the US population. We establish the talent puzzle by showing that Americans differentiate significantly between inequality due to luck and inequality due to talent. We show that this partly reflects that people consider talent to some extent to be under individual control, and partly that people consider individuals to have ownership of the fruits of their talent because they have acted on it. Our findings provide novel evidence on people's fairness views that shed light on the political debate on the acceptability of inequality in society.

本研究基于针对美国民众的大规模调研，探讨人们如何区分由天赋（talent）引发的不平等与由运气（luck）引发的不平等。我们通过实证表明，美国民众对运气所致不平等与天赋所致不平等的认知存在显著差异，据此提出了天赋谜题（talent puzzle）。进一步分析显示，该认知差异的成因主要包含两方面：其一，民众认为天赋在一定程度上属于个体可掌控的范畴；其二，民众认可个体因主动践行自身天赋，因而有权享有其创造的成果。本研究的发现为民众的公平观提供了全新的实证依据，可为社会关于不平等可接受性的政治辩论提供重要参考。