Not a real meritocracy? How conspiracy beliefs reduce perceived distributive justice

Abstract The meritocracy principle, along with other distributive justice principles such as equality and need, is fundamental to the healthy functioning of modern societies. However, our understanding of the factors that shape citizens' perceptions of these principles remains limited. We proposed that conspiracy beliefs are negatively related to distributive perceptions and tested these relationships in four studies. Study 1 analyzed a global dataset (90,837 participants; 68 societies) and identified a negative relationship between conspiracy beliefs and meritocracy perceptions. Study 2a (preregistered; N = 403; US) and Study 2b (preregistered; N = 788; China) manipulated conspiracy beliefs in societal settings. Conspiracy beliefs consistently reduced perceptions of meritocracy, perceived equality, and need principles. Study 3 (preregistered; N = 403) replicated these results in a hypothetical organizational setting. These findings suggest that conspiracy beliefs reduce citizens' perceived fairness of resource allocations across different distributive justice rules.