Equity Theory in Close Relationships

Throughout history, people have been concerned with social justice. In the 11 th century, St. Anselm of Canterbury (1998) argued that the will possesses two competing inclinations: an affection for a person‟s own advantage and an affection for justice. The first inclination is stronger, but the second matters, too. Equity theory, too, posits that in personal relationships, two concerns stand out: firstly, how rewarding are one‟s societal, family, and work relationships? Secondly, how fair and equitable are those relationships? According to Equity theory, people feel most comfortable when they are getting exactly what they deserve from their relationships—no more and certainly no less. In this paper, we begin by describing the social concerns that sparked our interest in developing a theory of social justice. Then we describe the classic Equity paradigm and the research it fostered. We recount the great intellectual debate that arose in the wake of the assertion that even in close, loving relationships, both reward and fairness matter. We end by describing current multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary research that lends a new richness to theories of social justice . . . and contributes to the theory‟s usefulness in addressing current social issues.