Sufficiency of Reward and Allocation Behavior

Abstract

The present research investigated the effect of sufficiency of reward on the principles that elementary school children employ to allocate rewards to others. Results indicated that Justice children allocated a smaller proportion of reward to the winner of a game when they were distributing insufficient and oversufficient quantities of reward than when they were distributing a sufficient quantity of reward. Results also indicated that kindergarten children allocated significantly less reward to the winner than did older children. These results were interpreted as indicating that no single norm can explain the reward allocation behavior of children. However, the results reaffirmed past findings which indicated that the norm of equity is the most important determinant of children’s reward allocation behavior.

Distribution of Rewards in a Triad: A Developmental Test of Equity Theory

“…Sex had no effect on reward allocation in the present study, as was the case in some prior studies (Coon et al 1974;Lane & Coon 1972;Lerner 1974). Other research, however, indicates that males have a greater preference for equity than females (Benton 1971;Leventhal & Anderson 1970;Leventhal et al 1973), and on one occasion the reverse of that was found (Lerner 1974).…”

“…Lerner (1974), however, found that kindergarten-age supervisors generally favored equality and fifth-grade supervisors were about equally divided between those favoring equality and those favoring equity. Coon, Lane, and Lichtman (1974) employed a group administration procedure in their superThe research was based on an honors thesis submitted by the senior author to the Department of Psychology of Indiana University. Requests for reprints should be sent to Jerome M. Chertkoff, Department of Psychology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47401.…”

Complex nature of the sense of fairness: Internal standards and social comparison as bases for reward evaluations.

“…Past research (e.g., Coon, Lane, & Lichtman, 1974;Lane & Messe, 1972;Miller, 1977) has demonstrated that reward-distribution behavior is affected by internal standards of fair pay. It follows, then, that the established sense of own equity would directly influence people's evaluations of the fairness of their pay.…”

On the Distinction Between Individual Deserving and Distributive Justice

“…Lane & Messe (1972) previously obtained estimates of perceived 'fair pay' for the kind of work preconditions to be employed in their study and asked subjects to divide a total store of outcomes which varied in the sufficiency with which those standards could be met (see Coon, Lane & Lichtman, 1974, for more research using this paradigm). Outcomes were divided equally (and thus equitably, since work performances were equal) only where outcomes were sufficient.…”