Equity theory

• What is equity theory?

  • Says that people strive to achieve fairness in their relationships
  • Walster et al (1978): when there is a lack of perceived equity, one person ends up overbenefitting and the other underbenefitting, leading to distress and dissatisfaction
  • Under benefit -> anger, hostility, resentment
  • Over benefit -> shame, guilt, discomfort
• How does equity change over time?

  • Most dissatisfaction is caused when equity reduces over time in a relationship
  • Schafer and Keith (1980) surveyed married couples who felt inequity in their marriages due to an unfair division of domestic responsibilities
  • Wives felt under-benefited during child-rearing years and husbands over-benefited
  • Equity and satisfaction was felt during the honeymoon and empty-nest stages
  • Suggests equity is important for the satisfaction of a relationship although it can change over the course of it
• How do people usually deal with inequity?

  • Under-benefited will usually feel more motivated to make the relationship more equitable by communicating
  • Alternatively they make may make a cognitive change - will change their mindset to adapt to their partners' behaviour so they will no longer see a cost as negative and no longer feel dissatisfied
  • Could lead to low self-esteem, resentment, dissatisfaction in the long-term
• What is one strength of the equity theory?

  • Research support: Utne et al (1984): measured equity in 118 recently married couples with 2 self-report scales and have been together for 2 years
  • Couples who considered their relationships equitable were more satisfied than those who saw themselves as under or over benefitting
  • Confirms that equity is linked with satisfaction in a relationship
• What is one limitation of the equity theory?

  • Individual differences: Huseman et al (1987) identified 3 types of individuals
  • Benevolents: 'givers', tend to be more tolerant of under-rewarded inequity
  • Equity sensitives: behave in accordance with the theory and experience tension when faced with inequity
  • Entitleds: prefer to be over-benefitted and are dissatisfied when in an under-benefitted or equitable situation
  • Shows that the theory is not universal for every relationship and perception of equity is subjective
• What is another limitation of the equity theory?

  • Cultural differences: equity may be undervalued or perceived differently in cultures outside of the US and Western Europe
  • Aumer-Ryan et al. (2006): found that American couples claimed to be in the most equitable relationships whereas Jamaican couples, particularly women, claimed to be in the least equitable relationships
  • Suggests that people from different cultures vary in how fair/equitable they consider their relationships to be, and could even be affected by individualism and collectivism
• What is another limitation of the equity theory?

  • Gender differences: DeMaris et al. (2010) found that men and women are not equally affected by inequity in relationships
  • Women tend to perceive themselves as more under-benefitted in relationships and are more disturbed by this than men - greater investments into the relationship may make them more sensitive to injustices and inequity