THE EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED AND ACTUAL INPUTS ON THE RECOGNITION OF OVER OR UNDER PAY INEQUITY WITHOUT EXPERIMENTAL INDUCTION.

In a test of equity theory with no experimenter-communicated manipulation, 76 females worked under the impression that their pay was based on performance while actually being randomly rewarded. Pay satisfaction resulted from the magnitude not the equity of pay; while performance changes were related to initial performance and learning effects. There was no relationship between individuals' perceptions of their initial performance and pay satisfaction or actual performance changes. Further, there were no interactions involving perceptions of performance and bonus or actual performance and bonus which would have supported equity theory predictions of reactions to over- or underpay inequity.