ISSN 0439-755X
CN 11-1911/B
主办:中国心理学会
   中国科学院心理研究所
出版:科学出版社

心理学报 ›› 2025, Vol. 57 ›› Issue (8): 1452-1467.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2025.1452 cstr: 32110.14.2025.1452

• 研究报告 • 上一篇    下一篇

“人情”与公平的抉择?恩惠对不公平规避行为的影响

汪祚军1,, 叶妍2,, 程雪岩3, 徐四华4,5()   

  1. 1.安徽师范大学教育科学学院, 芜湖 241000
    2.河海大学公共管理学院, 南京 211000
    3.潍坊工程职业学院教师教育学院, 山东 青州 262500
    4.上海外国语大学国际工商管理学院
    5.上海市脑机协同信息行为重点实验室, 上海 200083
  • 收稿日期:2024-08-10 发布日期:2025-05-22 出版日期:2025-08-25
  • 通讯作者: 徐四华, E-mail: sihuaxu@shisu.edu.cn
  • 作者简介:第一联系人:†共同第一作者。
  • 基金资助:
    江苏省高校哲学社会科学研究重大项目(2023SJZD091);教育部人文社科基金规划项目(23YJA190008);国家社科基金年度规划项目(24BSH102);国家自然科学基金面上项目(72171151);中央高校基本科研业务费专项资金(2021114003)

“Renqing” or equity? The influence of favor acceptance on inequity aversion

WANG Zuo-Jun1,, YE Yan2,, CHENG Xue-Yan3, XU Sihua4,5()   

  1. 1. School of Educational Science, Anhui Normal University, Wuhu 241000, China
    2. School of Public Administration, Hohai University, Nanjing 211100, China
    3. School of Teacher Education, Weifang Engineering Vocational College, Qingzhou 262500, China
    4. School of Business and Management, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai 200083, China
    5. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain-machine Intelligence for Information Behavior, Shanghai 200083, China
  • Received:2024-08-10 Online:2025-05-22 Published:2025-08-25

摘要: 互惠与公平是人际互动的基本准则。以往研究往往分别考察互惠与公平原则对人际行为的影响, 却鲜有研究考察当两者相悖时人们如何取舍。本研究5项实验分别通过故事情境法和实验室实验法操纵受人恩惠的条件, 并考察其对个体不公平规避行为的影响及潜在心理机制。结果表明, 受人恩惠, 无论是大恩惠还是“小恩小惠”, 均显著降低了个体的不公平规避行为。研究结果还揭示了不同大小恩惠条件下中介机制的不对称性:在大恩惠条件下, 亏欠情绪中介了受人恩惠对不公平规避行为的影响, 而在“小恩小惠”条件下, 感激情绪起到了中介作用。研究结果不仅为理解公平行为的复杂心理过程提供了新的解释视角, 同时也为企业和政府部门制定相关政策, 有效规避由恩惠而引发的违反公平的现象提供实践依据。

关键词: 公平原则, 互惠原则, 不公平规避, 感激, 亏欠

Abstract:

Equity and reciprocity are crucial guidelines for human interactions. While these principles often complement each other, there are instances where reciprocity can lead to breaches of fairness, such as in cases of bribery. Previous research has predominantly focused on the impacts of equity and reciprocity on behavior respectively, with limited exploration into situations where these principles conflict. This issue is particularly pertinent in China, where Renqing holds significant importance. This study aimed to investigate how participants navigate trade-offs when faced with conflicts between Renqing and equity, specifically examining how receiving a favor influences participants’ inequity aversion.

Five experiments were conducted to validate the research hypothesis. In Experiment 1A, we recruited college students (n = 124) and employed a scenario-based questionnaire to explore the impact of accepting favors on inequity aversion (refusal behavior in ultimatum game). Experiment 1B (n = 250) was a replication of Experiment 1A with additional tests of mediation through gratitude and indebtedness, and with a more diverse sample. Experiment 2A (n = 120) adopted a similar scenario-based method to investigate the effects of “small favors” on inequity aversion and further assessed the mediating role of gratitude and indebtedness. Experiment 2B (n = 92) corroborated the findings of Experiment 2A by manipulating “small favors” in a controlled laboratory setting. Finally, Experiment 3 (n = 168) manipulated favors of different scale to further investigate the potential threshold at which the asymmetric mediation mechanism shifts under varying favor conditions.

Consistent with our expectations, the results showed that receiving favors, whether substantial or minor, significantly reduced individuals’ inequity aversion behavior, leading to a greater tolerance of unfair distribution schemes. This suggests that when the principle of reciprocity conflicts with the principle of equity, participants are more likely to prioritize reciprocity. More importantly, when we included both gratitude and indebtedness as mediators in our model, we discovered an asymmetry in their effects. Specifically, under conditions involving substantial favors (Experiment 1B), the emotion of indebtedness mediated the influence of receiving favors on inequity aversion. Under conditions involving moderate favors, both gratitude and indebtedness simultaneously served as mediators (Experiment 3). However, under conditions involving minor favors (Experiments 2A~3), the emotion of gratitude, rather than indebtedness, served as the mediator. This highlights the distinct roles that gratitude and indebtedness play in moderating responses to favors of varying magnitudes.

These findings help enhance people’s understanding of the fundamental principles of interpersonal interactions (i.e., reciprocity and equity), and shed light on the importance of policy development by various governments in order to mitigate equity violations resulting from Renqing.

Key words: equity principle, reciprocity principle, inequity aversion, gratitude, indebtedness

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