But is it fair?

A team of Princeton researchers hooked up players to functional MRI machines and had them play the "ultimatum game" in which two people are asked to split a sum of money. The rules: One player gets to make the split, and the second player gets to accept or reject the split. If the second player rejects the split, neither player gets any money.

Rationally, the first player should realize her advantage and offer a lopsided split in her favor. The second player should then accept the uneven split, because any amount of money is better than nothing.

But this rarely ever happens.

While the fairness of the split shouldn’t logically affect the second player’s decision, it nearly always does. If offered a lopsided split, the second player rejects the deal, and both players walk away empty-handed. That is why most people end up offering a fifty-fifty split to the second player.

The functional MRI machine showed why people react in this way. When players are offered an unfair split, a primal part of their brains known as the anterior insula sends out a signal of disgust and anger. It doesn’t matter one little bit that rejecting the split—regardless of how unfair—is an irrational financial decision. It feels right.

This is only one example of where emotion trumps logic. And hard-wired human reactions don’t disengage just because people enter a workplace. Keep this in mind the next time you try communicate a "we've-got-to-do-more-with-less" message when the folks at the top are still perceived to get all the perks.

Carol Kinsey Goman, Ph.D., is an executive coach, author, consultant and keynote speaker who addresses association, government, and business audiences around the world. For more information, contact Carol by phone: 510-526-1727, email: CGoman@CKG.com, or through her website: http://www.CKG.com.