The Davis-Moore Theory and Perceptions of Stratification: Some Relevant Evidence

The concept of distributive justice is invoked to link certain perceptions of stratification with the Davis-Moore theory. Six hypotheses are extracted from the resulting theoretical framework and examined using 1964 Italian survey data. The findings indicate: (1) respondents believe the Davis-Moore factors of functional importance, talent and training are major influences on rewards; (2) actual rewards vary directly with perceived importance; and (3) with education; (4) there is no significant interaction effect between perceived importance and education in the determination of rewards; (5) rewards are much more strongly related to education than to perceived importance; and (6) education and importance are most strongly related to rewards in occupational groupings wherein status ascription is least. The results suggest the potential for widespread feelings of distributive injustice in Italy, and demonstrate that extensions of the theory can yield propositions amenable to empirical assessment.