Equity Theory
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A theory of social justice according to which people perceive a situation as fair when their own ratio of outcomes to inputs is the same as those of others with whom they compare themselves. Outcomes are the perceived receipts from a social interaction or exchange, including material benefits, social status, and intrinsic rewards, and inputs are the perceived contributions, including material contributions, seniority, education, skills, and effort. In terms of the theory, inequity is felt as uncomfortable even when it is in an individual's favour, and it tends to generate behaviour aimed at restoring equity, such as altering inputs or outcomes or cognitively distorting them, leaving the field, attempting to distort the other person's perceptions of inputs or outcomes, or changing the person used as a point of comparison. It was formulated by the US sociologist George Caspar Homans (1910–89) in his books The Human Group (1950) and Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms (1961) and introduced into psychology in 1965 by the Belgian-born US psychologist J. Stacy Adams (born 1925). (A Dictionary of Psychology, 2006).
Equity theory deals with two questions: (1) What do people think is fair and equitable? And (2) How do they respond when they feel they are getting far more or far less from their relationships than they deserve? How do they react when they see their fellows reaping undeserved benefits – or enduring undeserved suffering? Equity theory has been applied to predict people’s reactions in four major areas of human interaction: Exploiter/Victim relationships, Philanthropist/Recipient relationships, Business Relationships, and Intimate Relationships. Equity theory was developed in the hope of providing the glimmerings of the general theory social psychologists so badly need. It attempts to integrate the insights of reinforcement theory, cognitive consistency theory, psychoanalytic theory, and exchange theory.
Equity theory comprises four interlocking propositions:
PROPOSITION I: Individuals try to maximize their outcomes (where outcomes equal rewards minus costs).
PROPOSITION IIA: Groups can maximize collective reward by evolving accepted systems for equitably apportioning resources among members. Thus, groups will evolve such systems of equity, and will attempt to induce members to accept and adhere to these systems. PROPOSITION IIB: Groups will generally reward members who treat other equitably, and generally punish (increase the costs for) members who treat others inequitably.
PROPOSITION III: When individuals find themselves participating in inequitable relationships, they will become distressed. The more inequitable the relationship, the more distress individuals will feel.
PROPOSITION IV: Individuals who discover they are in an inequitable relationship will attempt to eliminate their distress by restoring equity. The greater the inequity that exists, the more distress they will feel, and the harder they will try to restore equity. `
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References and other links of interest
"equity theory n." A Dictionary of Psychology. Andrew M. Colman. Oxford University Press, 2006. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign. 26 June 2006 <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t87.e2836>
Walster, E.; Walster G. W.; Bershcheid, E. Equity: theory and research 1978 Allyn and Bacon, Inc
Messick, D & Cook, K Equity theory: psychological and sociological perspectives 1983 Praeger
