Cross‐cultural equity sensitivity: a test of differences between the United States and Japan

This study aims to examine the cross‐cultural differences in equity sensitivity between the USA and Japan.

A sample of 390 Americans and 202 Japanese were surveyed to determine their equity sensitivities and how each group would likely respond to under‐payment scenarios.

The findings support the notion that the Japanese are in fact more entitled in their equity orientation than Americans. Furthermore, the Japanese were also significantly more likely to respond with overt actions to reduce their feelings of inequity.

Foremost among these limitations is the fact that the situation presented to the subjects was hypothetical rather than real. Since it would be considered unethical to manipulate subjects in real work settings a first person scenario approach was utilized consistent with other equity theory literature. While the scenario was easily identifiable by the student subjects, it is unknown if the findings from this research would apply to adults working in real world organizations.

The results may have important implications for international human resource strategies and practices. Equity sensitivity may affect perceived value of rewards (compensation), promotion (selection), and motivation (performance management) all of which are critical issues in the effective management of human resources. This study illustrates that cross‐cultural differences exist in regard to equity sensitivity and these differences may affect the efficacy of human resource strategies in global organizations.

This paper offers a significant contribution to the literature on equity sensitivity by testing the theory in a cross‐cultural setting.