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Effort for payment. A tale of two markets
1University of California, Berkeley, USA.
Psychological Science
|October 16, 2004
Summary
People may exert more effort for social recognition than for low pay. This study differentiates between monetary and social markets, finding social markets are less sensitive to compensation, unlike monetary ones.
Area of Science:
- Social Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
Background:
- The standard labor model assumes individuals trade time for monetary rewards.
- Fiske's relational theory (1992) provides a framework for understanding social relationships.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and test a dual-market model (monetary and social) for effort-payment relationships.
- To explain why individuals sometimes exert more effort for no payment than for low payment.
Main Methods:
- Three experiments were conducted to investigate the hypotheses.
- Participants' effort levels were measured under different payment conditions (monetary, social, mixed).
Main Results:
- Monetary markets showed high sensitivity to compensation magnitude.
- Social markets demonstrated low sensitivity to compensation.
- Mixed markets aligned more closely with monetary market characteristics.
Conclusions:
- Effort-payment dynamics differ significantly between social and monetary markets.
- Understanding these market types is crucial for explaining diverse human motivation in exchange contexts.
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