Collaborative Research: Examining Emotional Reactions to Standards of Justice

Duke University, Durham NC

Investigators

Abstract

SES-0966536 Jody Clay-Warner Dawn T. Robinson, University of Georgia SES-0966488 Lynn Smith-Lovin Duke University Theories of justice predict that people feel negative emotion when they receive either more than they deserve or less than they deserve. Research consistently confirms that receiving less than one deserves evokes negative emotion. However, research regarding how people feel when over-rewarded is inconsistent. The current project investigates the idea that these inconsistencies are the result of employing different standards of justice. The researchers hypothesize that people feel distress and guilt when over-reward results from violation of the equity standard of justice -- which is based on local comparisons with specific others. They also predict that people do not feel distress and guilt when over-reward results from a violation of the referential standard of justice -- which is based on distal comparisons to some generalized expectation. By this logic, a person would feel guilty if he worked the same number of hours as a coworker but was paid more than the coworker. Conversely, he would not feel guilty if he were paid a higher wage than the typical ?going rate? for a particular job. In order to test these predictions, the researchers will conduct a series of experiments to examine emotional reactions to over-reward that will disentangle the effects of the justice standard from the effects of contextual factors. If the predictions are correct, then there may be fundamental differences in equity and referential comparison processes and thus a need for greater specification of justice theory. Broader Impacts This research has broad implications for work settings, for policy discussions and for understanding social movements. Since the under-rewarded typically lack the ability to gain more resources for themselves, it is often incumbent upon the over-rewarded to remedy unjust inequality. As a result, understanding how the over-rewarded feel about their favored position will lead to a better understanding of how injustice may be remedied in a variety of settings. The proposed research will also provide training and mentoring opportunities for a diverse group of undergraduate and graduate research assistants at two institutions