The Self-Relevant Implications of Distribution Rules: When Self-Esteem and Acceptance Are Influenced by Violations of the Equity Rule

Based on the assumption that distribution rules may have similarities to procedures, the present research examined the extent to which a violation of the equity rule can influence feelings of self-esteem and acceptance as a function of people's social value orientation (i.e., prosocial vs. proself orientation) and attributional explanation (internal vs. external). In a scenario study, participants imagined that they received a similar financial reward as their task partner, but this partner, however, put less effort into the task (i.e., violation of the equity rule). Results showed that this unfair outcome negatively influenced people's feelings of self-esteem and acceptance, but only among those with a proself orientation and when an internal explanation was given for differences in input.