Group Identity and Universalism in Redistributive Preferences

Moral universalism – the extent to which people exhibit the same level of altruism or trust toward strangers as toward in-group members – has been assigned a high societal, economic, and political relevance across disciplines. This paper studies whether the concept of moral universalism extends to inequality aversion or acceptance, and, in turn, the preference to redistribute. In contrast to altruism or trust, the decision to redistribute requires both a willingness to give and a willingness to take. Moreover, universalism in redistribution preferences allows examining robustness in universalist tendencies to highly policy-relevant nuances of inequality, including its degree and origin. Following these considerations, I examine the prevalence, nature, and potential correlates of universalism in redistribution preferences, using experimental survey data from Germany (N=4000). Universalism in redistribution preferences is measured through a series of spectator games where respondents must decide whether and to what extent to reallocate initial (unequal) monetary amounts by members of different group Identities. I randomly vary (between subjects) the degree of initial inequality (low; medium; high) and its source (luck; effort). Universalism requires the same level of inequality acceptance or aversion regardless of whether the initial inequality was favoring the in-group or the out-group. Early results from a first wave in December 2025 suggest that (composite) universalism in redistribution preferences is prevalent in around 42% of the surveyed respondents, with foreign and global universalism being higher than domestic universalism. These universalist tendencies seem to hold even when varying the degree or the source of inequality. A follow-up data collection is planned to assess potentially important correlates of universalism (beyond demographic and socioeconomic characteristics), including respondents’ support for various redistributive policy measures (international/national) and their economic preferences.