JUDGING DESERVINGNESS AND AFFECT IN RELATION TO ANOTHERS EMPLOYMENT OR UNEMPLOYMENT - A TEST OF A JUSTICE MODEL

In a study that was based on a structural model of deservingness, 24 m ale and 80 female under graduate students responded to scenarios in wh ich either a liked or disliked unemployed stimulus person expended eit her high or low effort and then either obtained employment or remained unemployed. Results showed that, when the outcome was employment, jud gements of responsibility, deservingness, and pleasure about the succe ssful outcome were higher when the stimulus person expended high effor t rather than low effort. When the outcome was unemployment, judgement s of responsibility, deservingness, and reported pleasure about the un successful outcome were higher when the stimulus person displayed low effort rather than high effort in seeking a job and participants repor ted feeling less sympathetic and more annoyed with the stimulus per so n and less inclined to provide financial assistance. Liking relations had most effects in the employed condition. The employed outcome elici ted more reported pleasure and less resentment for the liked stimulus person and he or she was judged to be more responsible for and more de serving of employment than the disliked stimulus person. The results w ere discussed in relation to component balanced and unbalanced structu res within the structural model and they also suggested some elaborati on of the responsibility variable. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.