Effect of hourly overpay and underpay inequity when tested with a new induction procedure

Abstract

Tested J. S. Adams' (see PA, Vol. 40:8736) inequity theory with an induction which did not challenge the workers' job qualifications, eliminating devalued self-esteem as a confounding variable. 31 workers were hired for an hourly pay clerical task in a real job situation and assigned to 1 of 3 groups overpay, underpay, and control in a before-after design. Contrary to inequity theory predictions and to previous inequity theory experiments, there were no significant work performance differences among the 3 groups, but 3 of 11 underpay Ss quit the job while no other Ss quit. It is concluded that the results of this experiment combined with the results of other experiments strongly suggest that inequity effects previously reported are probably due to the self-esteem variable. It is suggested that research on wage inequity should focus more on variables, e.g., turnover, satisfaction, and recruitment rather than solely on work performance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)