Abstract:
This study examined one possible barrier to the effectiveness of equitable team-based
rewards (i.e. rewards allocated according to each team member’s individual contribution)
that can especially occur with interdependent tasks, where it may be difficult to measure
individual contributions: reward misallocation, such that higher performers are rewarded
less than lower performers. The impact of three individual differences as moderators—
equity sensitivity, exchange ideology, and agreeableness—was also examined. Results
from a sample of 122 undergraduate students, each paired with a confederate teammate
(who was always the lower performer), indicated that misallocation did not negatively
impact individual performance or helping behaviors on a subsequent task. Misallocation,
did however, reduce the intention to continue working with the teammate on future tasks.
Lastly, moderating effects of the individual differences were not found.
