equity or equality or fairness?
Tom Schelling’s Contributions to Conflict Theory and Research – Dean Pruitt/Negotiation Journal
“…when interests diverge, “fair” alternatives often stand out and structure the final agreement. Schelling mentions two common standards of fairness: equality (e.g., a 50‐50 split, or turn taking) and proportionality (also called ‘equity,’ e.g., pay proportional to the amount of work done). If his article had been written today, Schelling might have drawn on Deutsch’s (1985) research and mentioned need as a third common basis of fairness (e.g., providing more services to sicker people)…”
“On the topic of prominent alternatives, we need to test two hypotheses implied by Schelling (1960): (1) ‘fairness’ is effective in settling disputes because it makes certain alternatives more prominent rather than because of its ethical implications, and (2) fairness considerations are more important when third parties are watching. In addition, research is needed on what happens when there is more than one candidate for prominence, for example, when one option offers equality and another offers equity. Does this slow down or block agreement in comparison to the single candidate case? If so, is it because each party will advocate the candidate most favorable to itself? If not, are some kinds of prominence predominant over others? For example, is there any truth to Schelling’s (1966) hypothesis that equity trumps equality or was Deutsch right that equality is the stronger principle (see Albin and Druckman 2012; Druckman 2018).”