Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Perception of Fairness in Social Exchange: A Comparison of Negatively and Positively Connected Networks

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Research on perceptions of justice in social exchange settings has focused on negatively connected networks, i.e., exchange in one of an actor's relationships entails diminished or non-exchange in others. In positive exchanges, exchange in one of an actor's relationships implies exchange in one or more others. This doctoral dissertation research expands the scope of distributive justice theory by comparing justice evaluations in negatively connected and positively connected networks. A key distinction relevant to justice theory is that in negatively connected networks actors often must compete with one another for valued exchanges, whereas this is not the case in positively connected networks. This fundamental difference is expected to lead to differences in perceptions of fairness. In addition, this study proposes to examine behavioral reactions to injustice by investigating the use of punishment in both types of networks. The research design involves a 2x2x2 factorial experiment with the factors being network connection (positive or negative), base of power (reward only or reward and punishment), and equality (equal or unequal). In order to insure control over manipulated variables, subjects will interact with computer simulated partners in 3-actor networks. The significance of this research project lies in the extension of the justice literature to incorporate positively connected networks. Furthermore, this dissertation presents the first study of an anticipated research program examining differences between negatively connected and positively connected exchange networks.