A matter of principle or a matter of money? How fairness evaluations change with experimental currencies

We investigate how the information about monetary outcomes influences
perceptions of fairness of income redistributions. In an economic experiment,
participants initially rated the fairness of a redistribution scheme
without knowing the exchange rate of experimental tokens to real money.
After learning the monetary value of tokens, participants adjusted their
fairness ratings, generally perceiving redistributions that generate higher
income as fairer. As the redistribution itself did not change, our findings
suggest that awareness of monetary consequences affects perceptions of
redistribution beyond mere self-interest.