The impact of promotion decisions on equity, commitment, and behavioral outcomes was examined in a field setting. Workers in a service company who submitted their candidacy for promotion to either department or division heads were compared with their noncandidate counterparts (total ,/V = 191). Subjects completed surveys after promotion decisions were made. In addition, measures of the subjects' lateness and absence before and after the promotion were available. Data analyzed by level of position (department vs. division) and promotion decision (promoted, not promoted, and control) indicated that promotions resulting from self-initiated candidacies might actually produce undesirable outcomes. Failure to get a promotion was associated with feelings of inequity, a decrease in commitment, and an increase in absenteeism; positive promotion decisions increased commitment. Theoretical and organizational implications are discussed.Recent work in motivation has focused on cognitive processes that might explain employee attitudes and behavior. Examples are Adams's (1963) equity theory, Vroom's (1964) valence-instrumentality-expectancy theory, and Folger's (1986) referent cognitions theory. In these formulations, workers are considered to be active thinkers who evaluate the antecedents and consequences of their actions (Steers & Porter, 1987). In the present study, we examined an application of equity theory to an organization in which individuals initiate their candidacies for promotion. Equity research has generally focused on employees' reactions to pay decisions, yet several investigators (e.g., Greenberg, 1988;Mowday, 1987) have contended that research is also needed in areas that are not strictly monetary.Adams (1963, 1965) conceptualized equity as a feeling that exists when the individual perceives his or her output/input ratio as equal to that of a related other. Comparisons often occur between parties in a reciprocal relationship. Comparisons can also occur between nonrelated parties who are each in an exchange relation with a third party, as in the case of the relationships and reactions of subordinates to the decisions of superiors (Mowday, 1987). When a person's output/input ratio diverges from that of a comparison other, a state of inequity accompanied by aversive and uncomfortable feelings is aroused. Discomfort is thought to be stronger when the inequity is to one's disadvantage rather than to one's advantage (Greenberg, 1988;Walster, Walster, & Berscheid, 1978). Furthermore, in the case of disadvantage, it is believed that this discomfort is more likely to manifest itself in more negative attitudes and an increase in behavioral withdrawal indicators, such as absence and lateness.It is our contention that this conceptualization is also applica-Joseph Schwarzwald and Meni Koslowsky contributed equally to this article. Order of authorship was determined by the flip of a coin.
