While European welfare states are currently at the focal point of public policy, public support for the welfare state remains nevertheless high. However, despite strong support, less is known about what kind of welfare state actually is preferred. Welfare states redistribute a pool of resources on the basis of equity (those that have contributed more are also entitled to claim a significant part), equality (all citizens have the same claim on benefits) or need (those that are worse off can claim are entitled to a larger share) (Deutsch, 1975; Miller, 1999). While these principles are core distribution mechanisms of welfare redistribution, empirical evidence on the extent to which individuals of different welfare states endorse different principles, as well as research on the determinants that explains taking stance in these principles is rather scarce and fragmented (Arts & Gelissen, 2003; Aalberg, 2003). At the individual level, we can expect that self-interests and related ideational stances influence the formation of preferences for redistributive justice principles. At the country level, the hypothesis is that citizens of societies where productivity is emphasized are more likely to endorse the equity principles, whereas citizens are more in favor of equality in countries where sociability is stressed; in final, in societies embracing personal development and welfare, the principle of need is expected to be more endorsed (Deutsch, 1975). In order to research the determinants of preferences of redistributive justice, the 2008 wave of the European Social Survey is analyzed.
