Social Justice Research, Vol. 4, No. 4, 1990 Culture, Values, and Beliefs About Economic Justice Kenneth A. Rasinski 1 and Leslie A. Scott 1,2 We examine the relationship between values" and beliefs about economic justice by conducting a cross-cultural analysis. Social values of Americans and West Germans are compared and the relationships between values and beliefs about the fairness of the distribution of business profits are examined. Data are from the 1984 General Social Survey and its West German counterpart, the 1984 ALLBUS; both surveys contain identical value and economic justice items. We find that among citizens in both countries beliefs about the fairness of the distribution of business profits are related to values even when income and education are held constant, but the relationship is stronger in West Germany. For Americans, beliefs about the fairness of the distribution of business profits are related primarily to conservative values (beliefs that greater efforts lead to greater rewards). In addition, the positive influence of conservative values and of income level on fairness judgments is greater for Americans with higher levels of education. For West Germans, beliefs about the fairness of business profits are related both to conservative and to liberal values (beliefs that class divisions persist). In general, economic fairness" judgments of West Germans have a strong ideological basis, but polarization associated with differing ide- ologies is found. Economic fairness judgments of Americans showed both a simpler ideological basis and some relationship to self-interest. The influence of both .{'actors on Americans' fairness judgments seemed to be affected by socialization due to education. Results are discussed in terms of the prevailing economic ideologies in both countries. KEY WORDS: economic justice; fairness judgments; beliefs; values; economic ideologies. In this article, we examine determinants of beliefs about economic justice across two cultures, the United States and preunification West Germany. 1National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. 2Loyola University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60611. 307 0885-7466/90/1200-0307506.00/0 © 1990PlenumPublishing Corporation