ABSTRACT
The reunification of Germany is tied to many unmet demands for a better distribution of resources between East and West. In view of the high unemployment rate of almost 40 percent in some parts of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), in many cases the situation amounts to actual disaster and individual tragedy. The differences in the attribution of responsibility and in preferences for distributional outcomes offer an important basis for the operationalization of Douglas's social-justice-related cosmologies. Class membership, experiences that individuals make in the course of their careers play an important role in the development of their justice perceptions. Of primary importance in this respect is social mobility. The idea that age determines justice perceptions is founded on the thesis of the determining force of socialization. Life experiences in our formative years are the most important. Sex appears to have the strongest determining effect on justice ideologies.
