Determinants of perceived fairness in reward allocation

Abstract

The present study examined multidimensional determinants of fairness in reward allocation. Subjects were presented with a hypothetical scenario of reward allocation and were asked to rate their perception of fairness in terms of either equity or equality allocation. Data were subjected to factor analysis and three factors were obtained in the equity condition and two in the equality condition. These results suggested that the features of equity and equality allocations are organized differently in this situation. Results also indicated that the "cooperativecompetitive" dimension proposed by Deutsch should not be a single bipolar dimension but rather, as far as the perception of fairness is concerned, two separate unipolar dimensions. Further analysis by t-tests revealed that "task characteristics", as well as other features of allocations, contributed significantly to the rating of fairness. On the basis of these results, a hypothetical schema was constructed to account for perceived fairness in reward allocation.