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.

本研究针对美国民众开展大规模调查，探究人们如何区分天赋（talent）引致的不平等与运气（luck）引致的不平等。我们通过实证证实，美国民众对运气引发的不平等与天赋引发的不平等存在显著差异化认知，由此确立了天赋谜题（talent puzzle）。进一步分析表明，这种差异化认知部分源于民众认为天赋在一定程度上属于个体可自主掌控的范畴，另一部分源于民众认可个体因运用自身天赋而理应享有其带来的成果。本研究的发现为民众的公平观提供了全新实证证据，可为社会不平等可接受性相关的政治辩论提供重要理论启示。