Relationship, contribution, and resource constrains: Determinants of distributive justice in individual preferences and negotiated agreements

This laboratory study investigated the impact of relationship, relative lev els of perceived contribution, and resource constraints on individuals' all ocation preferences and dyads' negotiated allocations. Dyads of female unde rgraduates - either strangers or roommates - were given performance feedbac k that one member produced the majority of the resources available to the d yad; the members of the dyad faced relatively scarce or abundant resources. Subjects indicated their individual allocation preferences and then negoti ated the distribution of resources as a pair. Results indicate that all thr ee factors are important predictors of the norms of distributive justice me t by the individually preferred and dyadically negotiated allocations. Resu lts also suggest that the degree of agreement between the norms implied by individually preferred allocations and dyadic agreements affect strangers' satisfaction with outcomes to a greater extent than roommates'.