The Journal of psychology
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The Journal of psychology · Oct 2009
Reactions to others' mistakes: an empirical test of fairness theory.
Drawing on fairness theory (R. Folger & R. Cropanzano, 1998, 2001), the authors examined undergraduates' reactions to advisor mistakes made in an academic advisement scenario. ⋯ Participants attributed significantly more blame to the advisor in the high severity outcome conditions. Counterfactual thoughts mediated the effects of target knowledge but not outcome severity. The authors discuss theoretical and practical implications.