WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to fairness and privilege, a new study finds it really is not about how you play the game. It's about whether you win or lose.

A new experiment, played out as a card game, shows that even when the deck is literally stacked in people's favor — and they know it — most winners still think it's fair anyway. Losers don't, according to a study in Wednesday's journal Science Advances .

The study "tells us something about privilege and about society," said Bates College sociologist Emily Kane, who wasn't part of the research. "It reminds us how powerful perceptions are...