Reciprocity and Tolerance to Inequality: A Study with Japanese-Brazilians

• Grant number: 25/07659-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2025
• End date: January 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Psychology - Experimental Psychology
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Frota Lobato Benvenuti
• Grantee: Celina Yoshie Tanaka
• Host Institution: Instituto de Psicologia (IP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Inequity aversion is a phenomenon related to a sense of justice in the context of distributive inequality. This phenomenon can be linked to the notion of structural racism, as the core of this social issue lies in how income distribution and the maintenance of inequalities between racial groups are carried out and evaluated as fair or unfair.The present investigation aims to assess the relationship between racism against Japanese-Brazilians and tolerance of disadvantageous inequity, as well as the possibility of changing tolerance to inequity through the construction of reciprocal relationships. To this end, two studies are proposed: the first with groups of White and Japanese-Brazilian children residing in Brazil; the second with groups of native Japanese and Japanese-Brazilian adults residing in Japan.For both studies, we will use a paired task in which participants access a point distribution matrix and choose between a blue or green card. Depending on the color combinations, the result is either an equitable or an unequal distribution of points, with one participant receiving an advantage. Under different experimental conditions, the advantaged participant in the unequal distribution will alternate.We will assess whether reciprocity is built over the course of these conditions and whether this makes participants more tolerant of disadvantageous inequity, in the sense of valuing the other's gain based on a history of cooperation. (AU)