Deliberately ignoring inequality to avoid rejecting unfair offers.

Why do people punish experienced unfairness if it induces costs for both the punisher and punished person(s) without any direct material benefits for the punisher? Economic theories of fairness propose that punishers experience disutility from disadvantageous inequality and punish in order to establish equality in outcomes. We tested these theories in a modified Ultimatum Game (N = 1370) by examining whether people avoid the urge to reject unfair offers, and thereby punish the proposer, by deliberately blinding themselves to unfairness. We found that 53% of participants deliberately ignored whether they had received an unfair offer.

Counteracting deliberate ignorance of academic bullying and harassment.

Bullying and harassment are pervasive in academia, with many cases going unreported. One possible factor may be deliberate ignorance among perpetrators and bystanders. A number of interventions counteracting deliberate ignorance could contribute to thriving research environments.