Abstract

SANTOYO V., Carlos  and  COLMENARES V., Ligia. Equity in Effort and Profits Interchanges: Effects of Information. Acta de investigación psicol [online]. 2011, vol.1, n.1, pp.77-91. ISSN 2007-4719.

This paper deals with the experimental study of equitable interchanges in a task where 12 dyads of psychology students assigned their partners one of three games associated with different values of a variable ratio schedule of reinforcement (VR: 5, 10 or 20). In a second condition, subjects also assigned the number of points (1, 2 or 4 points) that their partners could obtain after completing the VR response criteria. Two types of sessions were programmed in which the information about task allocation and point's assignment was either present or absent. The Aristotelic model of Equity was used (Adams, 1965; Anderson, 1976) to evaluate the interchange strategies, and to describe the ratio of effort and profits in the interchanges under the information condition. The patterns of dyadic strategies that maximized profits and minimized effort were analyzed. The reciprocity mechanism in social interchange is discussed.

Keywords : equity; social interchange; interdependent choice; dyads; college students.