PERCEIVED INEQUITY AND DEPRESSION IN INTIMATE-RELATIONSHIPS - THE MODERATING EFFECTS OF SELF-ESTEEM

The positive relationship between depression and perceptions of inequi ty is supported strongly by theory and research. Less well understood, however, are the conditions under which individuals in intimate relat ionships perceive inequiry without experiencing depression. Employing ideas developed from equity theory and self theory and using responses front more than 5,000 married and cohabiting respondents from the Nat ional Survey of Families and Households 1987-1988 (NSFH) we examine th e moderating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between perceiv ed equity/inequity and depression. We argue that self-esteem primarily buffers the impact of feeling underbenefited on depression. As predic ted, high self-esteem moderates the relationship between underbenefiti ng and depression, but not the effect of overbenefiting on depression. The findings suggest ways in which individuals' self-esteem affects r esponses to imbalanced exchanges.