SELF-DEPRIVING BEHAVIOR AS A RESPONSE TO UNPROFITABLE INEQUITY

Several theoretical assumptions suggest that a member of a dyad who is underrewarded will sometimes engage in self-depriving behavior, i.e., he will further decrease his share of reward. To test these assumptions, a subject and a confederate were rewarded for performing a task in which their work inputs were highly similar. Subjects given somewhat less than half the reward subsequently increased their share. Among subjects given much less than half the reward, however, many decreased their share. Questionnaire data suggest that self-depriving behavior is an instrumental response which reduces a threat to subjects' power. © 1969.