Multiple reference points in satisfaction and fairness assessment

Most studies of reference point effects have used a single referent, such a s a price, a salary, or a target. There is considerable evidence that the j udged fairness of, or satisfaction with, an outcome is significantly influe nced by discrepancies from such single referents. In many settings, however , more than one reference point may be available, so the subject may be con fronted simultaneously with some referents above, some at, and some below t he focal outcome. Little is known about the simultaneous impact of such mul tiple reference points. We examine here the effects of two referents on rat ings of salary satisfaction and fairness. Subjects were presented with a se ries of scenarios that described a salary offer made to a hypothetical MBA graduate and provided information about the salary offers made to either on e or two other similar graduates. For each scenario, subjects judged how fa ir the focal graduate would feel the offer to be, and how satisfied he or s he would be with it. Satisfaction ratings displayed asymmetric effects of c omparisons: the pain associated with receiving a salary lower than another MBA is greater than the pleasure associated with a salary higher than the o ther student by the same amount. Fairness ratings showed a different patter n of asymmetric effects of discrepancies from the reference salaries: the f ocal graduate's salary was judged somewhat less fair when others received l ower offers, and much less fair when others received higher offers. The asy mmetric effects occurred for both reference points, suggesting that the foc al salary was compared separately to each of the referents rather than to a single reference point formed by prior integration of the referents. Copyr ight (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.