Equity Theory

• Unlike social exchange theory, which argues that people try to maximise rewards and minimise costs in relationships, equity theory suggests that partners are concerned about fairness in relationships.
• Fairness in relationships is achieved when people feel they get approximately what they deserve from relationships.
• Equity theory proposes the winning formula of fairness in relationships: one partner’s benefits minus their costs, should equal another partner’s benefits minus their costs.
• If one partner perceives a relationship as unfair, they are going to be dissatisfied with it regardless of whether they are over-benefitting or under-benefitting.
• According to the equity theory, a person who gets more benefits out of relationships than they put in will feel guilt and shame, and those who think they put a lot in but get very little back will be angry and resentful.
• The longer this feeling of unfairness (lack of equity) goes on, the more likely a couple is to break up.
• Equity doesn’t mean equality, though; it is not about the number of rewards and costs, but rather about the balance between them; if a person puts a lot into a relationship and receives a lot, it will feel fair to them.
• Perception of equity changes over time; for example, it is perfectly normal for many people to put in more than they receive at the beginning of a relationship, but if it carries on like that for too long, it will lead to dissatisfaction.
• A partner’s way of dealing with inequity also changes with time; what seemed unfair in the beginning may become a norm as relationships progress, or the partner who gives more may start working even harder on the relationship until the balance is restored.
• The importance of equity in relationships is supported by research findings; for example, Utne et al (1984) used self-report scales to measure equity and satisfaction in recently married couples.
• Stafford and Canary (2006) found that partners who perceived their relationships as fair and balanced, followed by spouses who over-benefited from the relationships, experienced the most satisfaction.
• Those who under-benefitted showed lowest levels of satisfaction.
• There is some supporting evidence from animal studies as well; for example, Brosnan and de Waal (2003), in their study of capuchin monkeys, found that if monkeys were denied their reward (a bunch of grapes) for playing a game, they became very angry, suggesting that the importance of equity in relationships has ancient origins.
• Berg and McQuinn (1986) conducted a longitudinal study on 38 dating couples and found that a high level of self-disclosure and perceived equity in the beginning of the relationships was a strong predictor that a couple would stay in their relationship, and low equity in the beginning was a reliable predictor of a break-up.
• Consequently, it may be better to study romantic relationships using an idiographic approach which focuses on the qualitative experiences of individuals, rather than employing a nomothetic approach to generate universal laws for human relationships.
• Sprecher (1992) found that women tend to be more disturbed when under-benefitting from relationships, and feel more guilt when over-benefitting, while DeMaris et al. (1998) suggest that women are more focused on relationships, and so are more sensitive to injustices.
• These results highlight a culture bias in this area of research and suggest that equity theory does not explain the development of romantic relationships in all cultures.
• The findings of Berg and McQuinn (1986) contradict the central claim of equity theory, which suggests that equity increases over time, after the initiation of a romantic relationship.
• Van Yperen and Buunk (1990) studied married couples and found that dissatisfaction in inequitable relationships increased with time, not the other way around.
• There are people who are less sensitive to inequity and are prepared to give more in the relationships, known as benevolents, according to Hussman et al., 1987.
• Equity Theory, like other theories within the relationships topic, proposes a universal theory of romantic relationships that suggests that people are content in their relationship if the benefits equal the costs.
• Some researchers suggest that dissatisfaction may be the cause, not the consequence, of perceived inequity.
• There are important gender differences in perception of relationship fairness that Equity Theory ignores.
• Mills & Clarke (1982) argue that it is not possible to assess equity in terms of loving relationships, as a lot of the input is emotional and unquantifiable.
• There are also important cultural differences not accounted for by the equity theory.
• Aumer-Ryan et al. (2006) show that the concept of equity is more important in Western cultures than non-Western cultures.
• Both men and women from non-Western (collectivist) cultures claimed to be most satisfied with their relationships when they were over-benefiting from it, not when the relationships were fair.
• These results indicate clear gender differences between males and females and highlight the importance of conducting research into males and females separately, to avoid gender bias.
• Other people, entitleds, believe they deserve to over-benefit from relationships and don’t feel too guilty about this.