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The Psychology of Deservingness and Acceptance of Human Rights

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Justice and Conflicts

Abstract

In this chapter, I argue that psychological research on the concept of “deservingness” can help us understand and reduce opposition to universal human rights. In Part I, I review accumulating evidence that humans possess a strong motive to see that they and others get what is deserved. I show that a desire for deservingness is relevant to punishment, resources, and the procedures and treatment to which people are subjected. Furthermore, I discuss evidence of a psychological need to believe that the world works according to deservingness principles. In Part II, I argue that a deservingness motive undermines acceptance of universal human rights. Evidence of this claim comes from a number of sources including research on individual difference predictors of commitment to human rights, situational predictors of specific human rights violations, and traditional arguments against certain rights for particular groups of people. In Part III, I discuss the implications of my arguments for how acceptance of universal human rights can be increased. I suggest a number of strategies toward this end. These strategies involve either promoting the notion that all humans deserve a common set of protections and resources, or decreasing the focus on deservingness in the realm of human rights.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Authors who claim that perceptions of deservingness are often correlated with, but not the same as, perceptions of justice (e.g., Cohen, 1979; Hareli, 1999; Janoff-Bulman & Morgan, 1994; Mikula, 2003; Montada, 1994) tend to note the following distinctions. First, deservingness judgments are “local” judgments that are made about a particular individual, regardless of the situation of the rest of the collectivity; whereas justice judgments take into account the broader social context. For example, Cohen (1979) suggests that, when resources in a collectivity are scarce, individuals might not be able to receive what they are believed to deserve, but the scarce resources might still be distributed in a way that is perceived as just, given the broader situation. Second, justice judgments are relevant when an external agent is responsible for the outcome, whereas deservingness judgments are not limited to these situations (e.g., as when an individual is perceived as deserving a negative outcome because he or she behaved badly). Third, some authors suggest that deservingness judgments are less rational and more emotional than are justice judgments. These distinctions (and others) have received little empirical attention. Empirically, deservingness judgments are most often treated as a precursor to justice judgments (e.g., Heuer, Blumenthal, Douglas, & Weinblatt, 1999; Freudenthaler & Mikula, 1998).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada

    Carolyn L. Hafer

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  1. Carolyn L. Hafer
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Correspondence to Carolyn L. Hafer .

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  1. Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Professur Psychologie III, Katholische Universität, Ostenstrasse 25, Ingolstadt, 85072, Germany

    Elisabeth Kals

  2. Fakultät für Pädagogik, Universität der Bundeswehr München, Werner-Heisenberg-Weg 39, Neubiberg, 85577, Germany

    Jürgen Maes

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Hafer, C.L. (2011). The Psychology of Deservingness and Acceptance of Human Rights. In: Kals, E., Maes, J. (eds) Justice and Conflicts. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19035-3_25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19035-3_25

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