But studies have shown that humans are hard-wired to want their fair share, as are other animals that have cooperative relationships, like monkeys, birds and wolves.
In one famous experiment, researchers trained two capuchin monkeys to hand them tokens in exchange for a cucumber snack.
The other monkey, who continued to receive cucumbers, looked enraged, shook the walls of her enclosure and hurled the cucumbers out of reach.
In the workplace, psychologists refer to this as effort-reward imbalance.
In humans, the perception that you are getting less than others for the same amount of work can contribute to symptoms associated with burnout and lead to a higher risk of depression.
Persons:
Sarah Brosnan
Organizations:
Georgia State University