Social Inequity Aversion - Combining Social Inequality & Inequity Aversion

Combining Social Inequality & Inequity Aversion

According to Sarah Brosnan, “human beings have a similar approach, we do not live in a world of absolute values but one in which we are constantly comparing ourselves with those about us and, like a capuchin, we can tell when we are being short changed.” This can directly be connected to social inequality in that we as humans know what social inequality is and can identify it as an injustice; it is how we know that something such as unequal pay based on socioeconomic status is social inequality. However, according to the concept of social inequity aversion, we will not reject what is offered to us unless we realize that by rejecting what we are offered we will reduce another person’s earnings or the earnings of the person who is giving to us, thus making our earnings closer to theirs, thus lessening the inequality.

One key example that links these two concepts could be that of the Neoclassical Labor-Market Theory. Based on several important facts, this theory is based on the supposition that “(1) a relatively free and open market exists in which individuals compete for position. (2) Position in that markets depends heavily on the individual’s efforts, abilities, experience, training, or ‘human capital.’ (3) There are automatic mechanisms that operate in the marketplace to ensure that imbalances between one’s input (human capital) and one’s rewards (wages) are corrected in a way to restore balance” (Hurst 231). This concept is interesting in that the third fact that is assumed to be true in a labor-market theory would apply greatly to the concept of social inequity aversion. This is because it would seem that in order to get the reward that is expected we as people will take what is given to us for our skill. But when it becomes possible that our fellow citizen can get more than us, or that the company that is providing us with the reward (payments) gets more money from our labor/skill, then we as people in this labor market theory will reject the payments, and try to obtain a better one. We do this by trying to attain better resources for ourselves, such as “education, training, skills, and intelligence” (Hurst 231). So take for example an African American woman, she will take the payment that all African American women are receiving. But once another African American woman begins to get better payments via her better resources, other African American women will reject their current position as well as resources and seek more to in order to, maybe not directly lessen the payment that other African American woman, but to get more for themselves. This greatly illustrates the social inequity aversion concept when it comes to humans and how it crosses with the neoclassical labor market theory. However, because it is a continuous process in which different opportunities open up doors for individuals based on their life changes and access to better resources, an imbalance is made and a gap develops, thus separating individuals and creating on-going social inequality (Hurst 231).