In certain contexts, people face decisions with a deep impact on others as they may imply serious harm or unequal distribution of relevant material or symbolic resources. Legal decisions - i.e. formal decisions regarding punishment for alleged illegal behaviors - are a paradigmatic example of these socially critical decisions (SCD). These decisions constitute the core of this project and its main goal is to study whether and how the salience of a meritocratic norm impacts on legal decisions towards low status (LS) group members. Most research on SCD has been more focused in showing the existence of more unfavorable decisions towards LS group members (compared to high status) than in explaining it. Importantly, a factor that has been shown to impact on group-based distinctions has been neglected by SCD research: the salience of a meritocratic norm. This project addresses this gap by testing the idea that meritocracy leads to more unfavorable legal decisions towards low status groups.

MiLD é financiado por fundos nacionais através da FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., no âmbito do projeto “PTDC/PSI-GER/28765/2017”