AO3

• research support

  • Brosnan and de Waal observed capuchin monkeys to find equity in relationships. When a female monkey was playing a game with a highly desirable prize but was denied it, they became extremely angry and when they saw a non-participating monkey get the prize. they became aggressive. ​ 
  • Brosnan at al emphasized this in his studies that monkeys were most upset by injustice in a causal relationship with another primate than a more intimate relationship – suggests that equity theory has a more evolutionary basis.
• contradicting research support

  Berg and McQuinn conducted a longitudinal study on 38 dating couples. They did not find an increase in equity over time but high levels of self-disclosure and perceived equity in beginning of the relationship was a strong predictor of whether the relationship would last. Low equity = break up early on, it does not develop in the relationship over time - this contradicts the equity theory. 
• gender differences in the perception of equity

  Sprecher found women tended to be more disturbed when under-benefiting and feel more guilt when over-benefiting. DeMaris et al found women were more focused on relationships so more sensitive to injustices. This shows the clear gender differences between males and females so therefore research must be conducted separately to avoid gender bias but may result in alpha bias if the differences between the two genders are exaggerated too heavily.