Gender differences in justice evaluations: Evidence from fMRI.

Abstract

Justice research examining gender differences has yielded contrasting findings. This study enlists advanced techniques in cognitive neuroscience (fMRI) to examine gender differences in brain activation patterns in response to procedural and distributive justice manipulations. We integrate social role, information processing, justice, and neuroscience literature to posit and test for gender differences in 2 neural subsystems known to be involved in the appraisal of self-relevant events. Results indicate that the relationship between justice information processing and neural activity in areas representing these subsystems is significantly influenced by gender, with greater activation for females than males during consideration of both procedural and distributive justice information. In addition, we find evidence that gender and distributive injustice interact to influence bargaining behavior, with females rejecting ultimatum game offers more frequently than males. Results also demonstrate activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) and ventral striatum brain regions during procedural justice evaluation is associated with offer rejection in females, but not in males. Managerial implications based on the study's support for gender differences in justice perceptions are discussed.

How voice shapes reactions to impartial decision-makers: An experiment on participation procedures

“…This finding is in line with evidence from laboratory experiments (Hack and Lammers, 2009;Dulebohn et al, 2016 for FMRI evidence) and from organizational surveys (e.g., Sweeney and McFarlin, 1997) that point towards women reacting more strongly to the fairness of procedures than men. However, other survey studies did not succeed in showing this difference (Fields et al, 2000;Lee et al, 2000;and Lee and Farh, 1999).…”

How individual needs influence motivation effects: a neuroscientific study on McClelland’s need theory

“…As is common for neuroimaging studies, general linear modelling (GLM) was used for the first-level analyses to identify an increase or decrease of the BOLD signal in response to the treatment versus the control treatment or baseline signal (Dimoka 2012;Dulebohn et al 2016). In most neuroscientific studies a GLM analysis is performed for each voxel 2 and for each participant (Dulebohn et al 2016). GLM analysis is appropriate when multiple predictors are used to indicate variability in a single, continuously distributed outcome variable.…”

Psychological and neurological predictors of abusive supervision

“…With that said, we recognize three potential limitations. First, our sample was relatively limited in size, although being equivalent to, or larger than, other recent research in the organizational neuroscience realm (see Dulebohn et al., ; Vul, Harris, Winkielman, & Pashler, ). We suggest that our findings be replicated, doing so in a broad range of supervisory positions and organizational levels.…”

“…For example, Dulebohn et al. () used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate gender differences in how men and women process and respond neurologically to procedural and distributive justice stimuli. They found that the relationship between procedural justice information and activation in the salience subsystem of the brain (i.e., insula, anterior cingulate cortex, and ventral striatum) is stronger for women.…”

“…Given issues pertaining to cost, complexity, and difficulty, large sample sizes are not common in neuroimaging research (e.g., Dulebohn et al., ; Hannah et al., ). For example, Vul et al.…”