EFFECTS OF ALLOCATION RULES ON PERCEPTION OF FAIRNESS AND ALLOCATORS : A DEVELOPMENTAL STUDY

Abstract

The difference between reward allocated to the high and low performers is often more in America than in Asia. Such cross-cultural differences has been attributed to the Asian value for promoting and preserving group harmony. In the present developmental study (N = 192), participants judged fairness of allocations made accordingly to equity (proportional), equality, and compromise rules. They also indicated their social and intellectual attraction toward the third-party allocator. Age of the participants was included in the study to show that acceptance of cultural value increases with age. In general, an allocation made according to the equity rule was adjusted to be better than that made by the compromise rule or the equality rule. However, desirability of the equity rule did decline from adolescence to adulthood.