Relative pay better than absolute value

26 November 2007, by Heavens Paradox

I found this article on motivation and relative pay very interesting. In summary the results showed that while earning money is rewarding, it is even more so if you know you are getting more than your peers.

The study monitored the brain activity while pairs of volunteers performed an activity, at the end of each section both parties were told how much they had earned, and how much their partner had earned. While the ‘reward system’ in the brain showed activity when they made money, it lit up when they out performed their partners.

In my opinion this shows quite a lot about human nature. While we all like to do well, we measure that success against the people around us. So just doing well isn’t enough on its own - we need to see that we are doing better than someone else to really feel good.

Categories: Current Affairs