Perceived justice and satisfaction in the majority- Group students

Adams(1965) Equity Theory is a cognitive social comparison theory. It holds that when a party or an individual involved in certain exchange or deal is/are concerned that the terms of their relationships remain fair. And that, a manifest dissatisfaction or similar other behaviours are responses to the felt unfairness and injustice rather than relative deprivation. Walster et.al (1978) and Daniels (1972) have found the theory useful in understanding intimate as well as non-intimate social relations. Based on assumptions of the above equity theory, undergraduate students in science and arts ofthe Delhi University were studied. Analyses reveal that at the initial stage of colleges the students seem to perceive that the justice exists with them interms of academic-inputs and outputs. But as they move up to the higher grades of formal education at colleges their such feelings appear to be disappearing however, and they seem to be prone to perceive that a little more justice is required to them in terms of their various inputs in education like money, time, efforts, and parental supports etc,-and quite a few percentage of them, even in the majority group-children perhaps feel that, they are rather, ‘under-benefited’ in terms of the educational outputs. Arts students compared to their science-counterparts, and the girls students compared to their boys-counterparts, however, appear to be more satisfied while at the colleges.

The study explores and finds some more interesting socio-psychological issues of Social and Distributive Justice in India.