Timothy Brown Essays (392 words) - Monkeys, Chinese Culture

Timothy Brown Dr. Bryant Organizational Behavior February 25, 2016 Equity theory The equity theory is defined as measuring the relational satisfaction between other. In the video the two monkeys were put in a situation where they were fed equally at first. Both of the monkeys were fine with getting fed the same thing. The next thing the examiner did was feed one monkey a cucumber and they second one a grape. The monkeys like the grapes better that cucumbers. Since the first monkey received a cucumber instead of the grape , he or she started to react differently. The first monkey would throw the cucumber back at the examiner while the other one would continue to receive grapes . Since the first monkey was treated unequally it started to to hit the cage and throw the cucumbers. According the the equity theory, when a state of equity exists there is no tension as the situation is considered to be fair; whereas if things are unequal tension exists cause of the lack of fairness. Since one is treated unfairly, the under rewarded monkey sta rted to get angry, and the over rewarded monkey may have felt guilt. The two monkeys would fit in the self-inside category of the equity theory. Self-inside is when a person compares themselves with someone else within the organization. The angry monkey was comparing itself with the monkey receiving the grapes. As stated in the theory people will often react strongly to situations where they are perceived as inequitable. People will sometimes act in a behavior to create equality. From experience , when I saw one of my coworkers was making more money than I was even though we were hired at the same; I felt as if I needed to do something so I can be just as equal as my coworker. To try to create equality I would try to work harder than my coworker. I would often try to work harder and volunteer more than others. Eventually my supervisory recognized my performance, and I received a raise. The reason for the monkey's behavior in the video was because it felt unequal. I have also seen in the workplace when a employee wasn't treated equally; so they began to slack off in their work. Depending on the situation it could motivate individuals to behave in different ways.