Related Experiment Videos
Values and judgements of wage differentials
1Department of Occupational Psychology, Birkbeck College, University of London, UK.
The British Journal of Social Psychology
|September 1, 1991
Summary
Personal values influence perceptions of fair wages, but justifications for these judgments do not consistently align with individual value priorities. This suggests a complex relationship between core values and economic decision-making.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavioral Economics
Background:
- Understanding the psychological underpinnings of economic judgments is crucial.
- Value priorities are considered core cognitive constructs that may influence decision-making.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between individual value priorities and perceptions of wage fairness.
- To explore whether justifications for wage judgments align with established value systems.
Main Methods:
- Participants completed the Rokeach Value Survey (RVS) to assess value priorities.
- Students judged the fairness of wage differentials for various jobs.
Main Results:
- Judgments of wage fairness were found to be correlated with differences in participants' value priorities.
- However, the justifications provided for these fairness judgments did not systematically relate to their Rokeach Value Survey (RVS) scores or similar value systems.
Conclusions:
- Value priorities appear to influence perceptions of economic fairness.
- The disconnect between value priorities and justifications suggests that values may not be systematically organized or consistently applied in economic reasoning.