Influence of social comparisons of outcomes and procedures on fairness judgments

This study investigated the effects of social comparisons of outcomes and procedures on fairness judgments. Participants performed 1 of 2 tasks with which they could earn a bonus. Three variables were manipulated: participant's control over task choice (present vs. absent), comparison other's control over task choice (present vs. absent), and comparison other's outcome (high vs. low). All participants were informed that they themselves earned a low outcome. The dependent variable was participants' judgments of the fairness of the way in which the experiment was conducted. Two 2-way interactions were predicted and found, one involving the participant's control and the comparison other's outcome and the other involving the participant's control and the comparison other's control.