just deserts

after reading an article on ultimatum games, i wondered whether perception of desert had anything to do with the outcome. since subjects' positions (of giving or accepting money) were known to be random, both subjects felt neither deserved the cash more than the other. they were therefore inclined to split it equally. the book i'm (slowly) reading now, the wisdom of crowds, speaks of studies that do manipulate this variable, distributing money based on a the results of a test, or so the participants believe.

In those experiments, proposers offered significantly less money, yet not a single offer was rejected. People apparently thought that a proposer who merited his position deserved to keep more of the wealth.

the point, you ask? well, it just confirms the idea that humans have a strong intuitive sense of desert. although my personal experience says that most people also have a strong sense of entitlement, this evidence points to the contrary, at least when confronted one-on-one.