Abstract
The Just World Hypothesis indicates that individuals are evaluated in relation to the situation in which they are observed. This study examined the application of the equity relationship in Just World evaluations, and the extent of overt evaluative and covert behavioral sex-role-related biases. Males or females rewarded or punished and later rated members of the same or opposite sex who were seen in favorable or unfavorable circumstances. Subject—stimulus person dyad age (adult or 7 years old) was also varied. Results agreed with hypotheses derived from role, exchange, and developmental theory. As predicted, women used less equity than men, while both sexes tended to apply the equity relationship less in cross-sex pairs. Adults showed a covert discrimination favoring their own sex, while children showed a similar overt bias as well. Some suggestions are made for further research.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, J. S. Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 2). New York: Academic Press, 1965.
Bar-Tal, D., & Frieze, I. H. Attributions of success and failure for actors and observers. Journal of Research in Personality, 1976, 10, 256–265.
Berkowitz, L. Social norms, feelings, and other factors affecting helping and altruism. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 6). New York: Academic Press, 1972.
Frieze, I. H. Causal attributions and information seeking to explain success and failure. Journal of Research in Personality, 1976, 10, 293–305.
Harris, R. L. Handling negative inputs: On the plausible equity formulae. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1976, 12, 194–209.
Hoffman, M. L. Sex differences in moral internalization and values. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 32, 720–729.
Kohlberg, L. A cognitive-developmental analysis of children's sex-role concepts and attitudes. In E. E. Maccoby (Ed.), The development of sex differences. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1966.
Larwood, L., & Blackmore, J. Fair pay: Field investigations of the fair economic exchange. Academy of Management Proceedings, 1977, 81–85.
Larwood, L., O'Neal, E., & Brennan, P. Increasing the physical aggressiveness of women. Journal of Social Psychology, 1977, 101, 97–101.
Larwood, L., & Wood, M. M. Women in management. Lexington, Mass: Lexington Books, 1977.
Larwood, L., Zalkind, D., & Legault, J. The bank job: A field study of sexually discriminatory performance on a neutral role task. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 1975, 5, 68–74.
Lerner, M. J. Observer's evaluation of a victim: Justice, guilt, and veridical perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1971, 20, 127–135.
Lerner, M. J. The justice motive: “Equity” and “parity” among children. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1974, 29, 551–556.
Lerner, M. J., & Simmons, C. H. Observer's reaction to the “innocent victim”: Compassion or rejection? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1966, 4, 203–210.
Masters, J. C., & Christy, M. D. Achievement standards for contingent self-reinforcement: Effects of task length and task difficulty. Child Development, 1974, 45, 6–13.
McArthur, L. Z., & Eisen, S. V. Achievements of male and female storybook characters as determinants of achievement behavior for boys and girls. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1976, 33, 467–473.
Nemeth, C. Bargaining and reciprocity. Psychological Bulletin, 1970, 74, 297–308.
O'Leary, V. E. Some attitudinal barriers to occupational aspirations in women. Psychological Bulletin, 1974, 81, 809–826.
Polachek, S. W. Occupational segregation: An alternative hypothesis, Journal of Contemporary Business, 1976, 5(1), 1–12.
Roper Organization. The Virginia Slims American women's opinion poll (Vol. 3). New York: Roper Organization, 1974.
Sommers, D. Occupational rankings for men and women by earnings. Monthly Labor Review, 1974, 97, 34–51.
Staines, G. L., Quinn, R. P., & Shepard, L. J. Trends in occupational sex discrimination: 1969–1973. Industrial Relations, 1976, 15, 88–98.
Terborg, J. R., & Ilgen, D. R. A theoretical approach to sex discrimination in traditionally masculine occupations. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1975, 13, 352–376.
Walster, E., Berscheid, E., & Walster, G.W. New directions in equity research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1973, 25, 151–176.
Walster, G. W. The Walster et al. (1973) equity formula: A correction. Representative Research in Social Psychology, 1975, 6, 63–64.
Weiner, B. From each according to his abilities: The role of effort in a moral society. Human Development, 1973, 16, 53–60.
Weiner, B., & Peter, N. A cognitive-developmental analysis of achievement and moral judgments. Developmental Psychology, 1973, 9, 290–309.
Wood, M. M., & Greenfeld, S. T. Women managers and fear of success: A study in the field. Sex Roles, 1976, 2, 375–387.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Larwood, L., Moely, B. Sex role and developmental evaluations in the just world. Sex Roles 5, 19–28 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289342
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00289342