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Satisfaction with Outcome Distributions

Studies from Two Small Communities

The Wright Institute

Brickman's (1975) laboratory finding that an equal distribution is preferred over a positively skewed distribution is found to also hold for Morawetz's (1977) real-world study of two Israeli moshavim. However, the hedonic calculus derived from adaptation level theory which seemed to explain Brickman's laboratory results is shown to be invalid for the real-world data. In particular, the generally assumed positive relation between individual satisfaction and income level did not hold for the Israeli community studied by Morawetz. The discrepancy between the two studies is interpreted as suggesting that the moral desirability of the general distribution may be a term in the utility functions of individuals in at least some social groups.

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