Effects of social value orientations on fairness judgments.
The authors assessed the impact that social value orientations--prosocial (i.e., concerned about outcomes for both oneself and others) versus proself (i.e., concerned about one's own outcome only)--had on fairness judgments in a non-negotiation setting. The results indicated that prosocials generally formed fairness judgments in a manner suggested by equity theory: Given the same input as a comparison other, they saw an equal outcome as fairer than a favorable or unfavorable outcome. The fairness determinations of proselfs, however, tended to follow the tenets of self-interest theory: Given the same input as a comparison other, they saw a favorable outcome as fairer than an unfavorable outcome. Contrary to self-interest theory, proselfs did not find a favorable outcome fairer than an equal outcome. These findings indicate that social value orientations differentially affect the evaluation of outcome information in the formation of fairness judgments.
Anderson
William D
WD
Central Methodist University, Park Hills, MO, USA. andersonwi@umsl.edu
Patterson
Miles L
ML
D000533:Altruism; D003469:Culture; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D007600:Judgment; D009042:Motivation; D018187:Personal Construct Theory; D012935:Social Justice; D012945:Social Values; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D035502:Trust