The relevance of “deservingness perceptions” is well established in research on public opinion towards social policy with typical hierarchies of groups widely perceived to be more (the elderly, families), less (the poor, the unemployed), or least deserving (immigrants). Previous studies often assumed this hierarchy to be stable, resulting in considerable inequalities in groups’ prospects of obtaining beneficial policy. Yet, we know surprisingly little about whether and how perceptions of groups’ deservingness vary at the individual level. How homogeneous are citizens’ deservingness perceptions? And are these perceptions affected by individual characteristics, such as a citizen’s group belonging or ideology?
Drawing on research on ingroup favoritism and pocketbook voting, we argue that deservingness perceptions are less influenced by a group’s general social image than by individual respondents’ group belonging and ideological beliefs. Thus, we argue that most variance occurs at the individual level, resulting in perceptions that are much more contested than the literature tends to claim.
We rely on data gained through an online-survey conducted shortly before the 2021 legislative elections in Germany (N = 5,600). By studying deservingness perceptions for 16 selected groups, we extend previous research that has often focused on only a limited number of “needy” groups, leaving aside relevant targets of public policy such as entrepreneurs, workers or the rich. The main finding of this study that social images of groups are much more complex and heterogeneous, than previously suggested, has crucial implications for our understanding of social dynamics, the voter-party-relation and (unequal) policy responsiveness.