Equity and the formation of revolutionary and conservative coalitions in triads

This study tested opposing predictions made by Gamson's Minimum Resource Theory and equity theory concerning the type of coalitions that are formed when members of a triad expect that rewards will be correlated with amounts of individual resources. Results supported equity theory in that subjects, whose work on a pretask was used as the basis for assigning resources in a bargaining game, formed conservative (strong against weak) coalitions. When subjects either did not work or were paid prior to playing the game, results replicated past research in that there was a tendency to form revolutionary (weak against strong) coalitions. Findings were discussed in terms of their implications for the generality of existing theories of coalition formation.