The effects of sex, sex-role identity, and gender-appropriateness of occupation on reward allocation behavior

Includes bibliographical references.Previous investigations in the area of reward allocation have uncovered, on occasion, a pattern of sex differences in which males prefer equity and females prefer equality. Two studies were conducted in order to examine the effects of gender, sex-role identity, sex of worker, and sex-linkage of task upon reward allocation behavior. In Study 1, 25 masculine male, 20 feminine male, 20 masculine female, and 30 feminine female undergraduates allocated rewards to 4 hypothetical workers, who varied solely in terms of their performance inputs. As hypothesized, sex-role orientation, rather than gender of subject, was associated with differential allocation strategiest masculine subjects of both sexes distributed rewards equitably, while males and females with a feminine sex-role orientation allocated rewards equally. In Study 2, 240 undergraduates allocated rewards to 4 pairs of hypothetical workers. The investigation of the effects of sex-role orientation were extended to include androgynous Identifications; and, sex of worker and sex-linkage of task were systematically varied. Masculine and feminine subjects allocated rewards equitably and equally, respectively, to male workers in a masculine task, female workers in a feminine task, and male workers in a feminine task. Under the female workers-masculine task condition, masculine subjects significantly inflated their allocations, whereas feminine subjects altered their allocation strategy from equality to equity. Androgynous males and females consistently displayed equitable allocations across all situational manipulations. The sex-role and situational differences in reward allocations were discussed in terms of differential socialisation factors and sex-linked constraints affecting the attribution process.M.A. (Master of Arts