Testing Measures of Equity Sensitivity for Resistance to Response Distortion

摘要

Equity theory (Adams, 1963, 1965) has been one of the most influential frameworks within management and organizational behavior (Colquitt and Zapata-Phelan, 2007), as it plays a discernible role in the daily lives of employees. Indeed, when individuals perceive inequity at work, they are less satisfied with their jobs, their productivity suffers, and they are more likely to quit (Colquitt et ai, 2001). At its core, equity theory posits that individuals make fairness judgments by calculating the ratio between their outcomes (e.g., pay, promotion, etc.) and inputs (e.g., skills, contributions, etc.) and subsequently comparing it to the ratios of relevant peers. In equitable situations, these ratios are equal. In inequitable situations, however, tension or distress is caused in proportion to the perceived inequity, and individuals are consequently motivated to restore an equitable balance.