Fairness Theory Presentation

Fairness Theory, usually attributed to J. Stacy Adams, is one of the various theories about motivation which emphasizes the individuals’ personal perception about fairness or relative justice in his labor relation with the organization. In fact, Fairness Theory assumes that motivation depends on the balance between what the person offers to the organization through the productive system (his performance) and what he receives through the retribution system (his compensation).

According to the theory authors, people feel motivated whenever they expect to receive from the organization (either in money, public recognition, promotion, transfers, or other) a fair compensation for their efforts in favor of the organization. The justice of this compensation is evaluated by the people through the comparison between what other people receive whose contributions are similar.

In the case that the compensation is unfair (inferior to the compensation given to other people), people feel unsatisfied and tend to reduce their contributions or, if this “unfairness” repeats, they can, actually leave the organization. When the compensation is fair (balanced with the one of other people), their contributions continue identical. Whenever a compensation is above the one received by other people, is verified the tendency for a bigger effort.

The perception of iniquity can be verified in numerous situations, among which the functions definition, promotions, transfers, public compliments, and obviously in salaries and other money compensations. It’s fundamental that managers don’t forget that sometimes an irrelevant iniquity in their point of view can represent great unfairness for those that are directly affected by it.

 

 

Translated from Portuguese by Susana Saraiva, Portuguese-English and English-Portuguese translation specialist. Contact: spams@sapo.pt.