A Replication of the Adams Experiment and a Theoretical Reformulation.

A methodological critique is presented of experiments on reactions to inequity (failure of distributive justice) reported by J. Stacy Adams and coworkers. It is alleged that social pressures from the experimenter rather than perceived inequity may account for the experimental findings. A new experiment is reported in which attempts were made to remove any pressures from the experimenter. A theoretical reformulation is presented which, if correct, seems to account for the findings of a number of equity experiments reported in the literature. It is indicated how the proposed explanation is experimentally verifiable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]