The relationship of worker productivity to cognitive dissonance about wage inequities

Abstract

2 hypotheses derived from dissonance theory were tested: (a) when a person is paid by the hour his productivity will be greater when he perceives his pay as inequitably large than when identical pay is perceived as equitable, and (b) when a person is paid on a piecework basis his productivity will be less when he perceives his pay in inequitably large than when he perceives identical pay as being equitable. The first hypothesis was sustained (p < .05) in a laboratory experiment in which 11 male college Ss earned $3.50 per hour and were induced to feel overpaid and 11 control Ss earned $3.50 per hour and were induced to feel fairly paid. The second hypothesis was sustained (p < .01) in a factorial design study in which 36 Ss were paid either $3.50 per hour or 30 cents per piece, and felt either equitably paid or inequitably overpaid. In both studies an identical task, in which Ss interviewed the general public, was used. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)