| Over a decade ago, equity sensitivity emerged as a construct that showed promise in augmenting the predictive power of equity theory. It did this by demonstrating, in contrast to what equity theory posits, that not everyone strives to maintain a balance between what they contribute to an organization (inputs) and what they receive in return (outputs). Specifically, benevolents prefer to have their inputs exceed their outputs; entitleds prefer to have outputs exceed inputs; and equity sensitives desire outputs to equal inputs, as equity theory presumes. Research on equity sensitivity has demonstrated that, for example, the equity sensitivity "types" differ in their preferences for various kinds of rewards (King, Miles, & Day, 1993), and that there are cultural differences in equity sensitivity (Fok, Hartman, Villere, & Freibert, 1996).; In the present investigation, 234 individuals (graduate students, employees of a large financial services organization, acquaintances of the author, and undergraduates) responded to a survey. Participants completed measures of equity sensitivity, organizational citizenship behavior, supervisory perceptions, satisfaction with team characteristics, and satisfaction with various reward policies.; As hypothesized, respondents with higher equity sensitivity scores (benevolent-oriented individuals) were most likely to engage in organizational citizenship behaviors directed at individuals. Contrary to expectations, equity sensitivity score was unrelated to supervisor ratings along behavioral scales, or to ratings of "interactional justice"---the fairness of interactions with the leader. Equity sensitivity score was also not related to changes in managerial ratings given between accountable and anonymous rating conditions. As hypothesized, higher equity sensitivity scores were associated with lower levels of satisfaction with a team reward policy primarily based on equity individual performance. In contrast, satisfaction with reward policies based more on team performance was positively correlated with equity sensitivity score.; These findings add to our understanding of equity sensitivity and its role in organizational processes. In particular, they suggest that the impact of equity sensitivity goes beyond merely influencing individuals' preferences for levels and types of reward outcomes. Rather, equity sensitivity has wider impact, affecting preferences for teamwork and intended effort, reward distribution rules, and enacting extra-role behaviors. Implications for managers and further research opportunities are discussed. |
