Referent Sharing: Convergence within Workgroups of Perceptions of Equity and Referent Choice

Abstract

This study examines the impact of workgroup membership on individuals' perceptions of equity and choice of referent. Subjects indicated who they compared themselves to on four job facets (compensation, job complexity, supervisory behavior, and security) and whether or not they felt equitably treated relative to their referent. For security comparisons, results show that workgroup membership is related to perceptions of equity and referent choice. For compensation comparisons, workgroup membership is related to referent choice. Workgroup membership does not influence either equity evaluations or referent choice for job complexity or supervisory behavior. Implications of these results for future research on comparative referents are discussed.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

ADAMS, J. S. Toward an understanding of inequity. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1963, 67, 422-436.

ADAMS, J. S. Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 2), New York: Academic Press, 1965.

DITTRICH, J. E. , & CARRELL, M. R. Organizational equity perceptions, employee job satisfaction and departmental absence and turnover rates. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1979, 24, 29-40.

GOODMAN, P. S. An examination of referents used in the evaluation of pay. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1974, 12, 170-195.

HACKMAN, J. R. , & OLDHAM, G. R. Development of the Job Diagnostic Survey. Journal of Applied Psychology, 1975, 60, 159-170.

HACKMAN, J. R. , & OLDHAM, G. R. Work redesign. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley, 1980.

LAWLER, E. E. Effects of hourly overpayment on productivity and work quality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1968, 10, 306-313.

MARTIN, J. Relative deprivation theory. In B. M. Staw and L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 3). Greenwich, Connecticut: JAI Press, 1981.

OLDHAM. G. R. , KULIK, C. T. , AMBROSE, M. L. , STEPINA, L. P. , & BRAND, J. F. Relations between job facet comparisons and employee reactions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1986, 38(1), 28-47. (a)

10.

OLDHAM, G. R. , KILIK, C. T. , STEPINA, L. P. , & AMBROSE, M. L. Personal and structural correlates of the comparative referents used by employees. Academy of Management Journal, 1986, 29(3), 599-608. (b)

11.

RUNCIMAN, W. G. Relative deprivation and social justice: A study of attitudes and social equality in twentieth-century England. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1966.

12.

SALANCIK, G. R. , & PFEFFER, J. A social information processing approach to job attitudes and task design. Admininstrative Science Quarterly, 1978, 23, 224-253.

13.

STOGDILL, R. M. Manual for the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire-Form XII. Columbus: Bureau of Business Research, Ohio State University, 1963.