Abstract
Individuals differ in how readily they perceive and how strongly they react to injustice. These differences are consistent across types of injustice and are stable across time. Thus, these patterns are seen as a personality trait called justice sensitivity. This trait can be differentiated into four facets that match with corresponding roles individuals take on in a justice conflict: victim sensitivity, observer sensitivity, beneficiary sensitivity, and perpetrator sensitivity. Several studies have shown that observer, beneficiary, and perpetrator sensitivity are highly correlated with each other and only weakly correlated with victim sensitivity. Observer-, beneficiary-, and perpetrator-sensitive individuals seem to be primarily concerned with justice for others. In this sense, these sensitivities represent potential factors that help in constructive conflict resolution and in the prevention of conflict escalation. By contrast, victim-sensitive people seem to have a predominant interest in justice for themselves. Accordingly, several studies have shown that victim sensitivity promotes antisocial behavior. The antisocial behavior of victim-sensitive people seems to serve two functions: First, having suffered from innocent victimization previously, victim-sensitive individuals commit selfish behavior in order to balance their personal justice account. Second, in fear of being cheated, they engage in preventive strikes against those who might cheat them. Both of these motives and mechanisms are potential risks for social, organizational, and ecological conflicts.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The social dilemma situation employed in this study (Gollwitzer et al., 2009) is an experimental game that requires participants to choose between cooperative and non-cooperative alternatives, yielding positive consequences for themselves and/or others.
References
Adams, J. S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 267–299). New York: Academic Press.
Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of self-regulation. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 248–287.
Baron, R. A., & Richardson, D. R. (1994). Human aggression (2nd ed.). New York: Plenum Press.
Batson, C. D., Kennedy, C. L., Nord, L.-A., Stocks, E. L., Fleming, D. Y. A., Marzette, C. M., et al. (2007). Anger at unfairness: Is it moral outrage? European Journal of Social Psychology, 37(6), 1272–1285.
Baumert, A., Halmburger, A., & Schmitt, M. (2010). Determinants of civil courage: Personality and emotion. Unpublished manuscript.
Crosby, F. (1982). Relative deprivation and working women. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cunningham, M. R., Steinberg, J., & Grev, R. (1980). Wanting to and having to help: Separate motivations for positive mood and guilt-induced helping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38(2), 181–192.
Dalbert, C. (2001). The justice motive as a personal resource. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Dar, Y., & Resh, N. (2001). Exploring the multifaceted structure of sense of deprivation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 31, 63–81.
Darley, J. M., & Pittman, T. S. (2003). The psychology of compensatory and retributive justice. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7(4), 324–336.
de Hooge, I. E., Zeelenberg, M., & Breugelmans, S. M. (2007). Moral sentiments and cooperation: Differential influences of shame and guilt. Cognition and Emotion, 21, 1025–1042.
De Raad, B. (2000). The big five personality factors. Seattle: Hogrefe & Huber.
Fetchenhauer, D., Goldschmidt, N., Hradil, S., & Liebig, S. (2010). Warum ist Gerechtigkeit wichtig? Antworten der empirischen Gerechtigkeitsforschung [Why justice is important? Answers of empirical justice research]. München: Roman-Herzog-Institut.
Fetchenhauer, D., & Huang, X. (2004). Justice sensitivity and distributive decisions in experimental games. Personality and Individual Differences, 36(5), 1015–1029.
Furnham, A., & Procter, E. (1989). Belief in a just world: Review and critique of the individual difference literature. British Journal of Social Psychology, 28, 365–384.
Gollwitzer, M., & Rothmund, T. (2009). When the need to trust results in unethical behavior: The sensitivity to mean intentions (SeMI) model. In D. De Cremer (Ed.), Psychological perspectives on ethical behavior and decision making (pp. 135–152). Charlotte: Information Age Publishing.
Gollwitzer, M., Rothmund, T., Pfeiffer, A., & Ensenbach, C. (2009). Why and when justice sensitivity leads to pro- and antisocial behavior. Journal of Research in Personality, 43(6), 999–1005.
Gollwitzer, M., Schmitt, M., Schalke, R., Maes, J., & Baer, A. (2005). Asymmetrical effects of justice sensitivity perspectives on prosocial and antisocial behavior. Social Justice Research, 18(2), 183–201.
Hafer, C. L., & Bègue, L. (2005). Experimental research on just-world theory: Problems, development, and future challenges. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 128–167.
Haidt, J. (2003). The moral emotions. In R. J. Davidson, K. R. Scherer, & H. H. Goldsmith (Eds.), Handbook of affective sciences (pp. 852–870). New York: Oxford University Press.
Hoffman, M. L. (1976). Empathy, role-taking, guilt, and development of altruistic motives. In T. Lickona (Ed.), Moral development: Current theory and research (pp. 124–143). New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
Hoffman, M. L. (1984). Empathy, its limitations, and its role in a comprehensive moral theory. In W. M. Kurtines & J. L. Gewirtz (Eds.), Morality, moral behavior, and moral development (pp. 283–302). New York: Wiley.
Huseman, R. C., Hatfield, J. D., & Miles, E. W. (1987). A new perspective on equity theory: The equity sensitivity construct. The Academy of Management Review, 12(2), 222–234.
Jones, D. A. (2009). Getting even with one’s supervisor and one’s organization: Relationships among types of injustice, desires for revenge, and counterproductive work behaviors. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30(4), 525–542.
Ketelaar, T., & Au, W. T. (2003). The effects of feelings of guilt on the behaviour of uncooperative individuals in repeated social bargaining games: An affect-as-information interpretation of the role of emotion in social interaction. Cognition and Emotion, 17(3), 429–453.
Kickul, L. K., Gundry, L. K., & Posig, M. (2005). Does trust matter? The relationship between equity sensitivity and perceived organizational justice. Journal of Business Ethics, 56(3), 205–218.
King, W. C., Miles, E. W., & Day, D. D. (1993). A test and refinement of the equity sensitivity construct. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 14(4), 301–317.
Klass, E. T. (1978). Psychological effects of immoral actions: The experimental evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 85(4), 756–771.
Krettek, C. (2007). Sensibilität für beobachtete Ungerechtigkeit und ihr Einfluss auf die Bereitschaft zu zivilcouragiertem Verhalten [Justice Sensitivity from observer perspective and the influcence on the willingness to display civil courage]. Unpublished Diploma thesis, University of Koblenz-Landau, Landau, Germany.
Lerner, M. J. (1977). The justice motive in social behavior. Some hypotheses as to its origins and forms. Journal of Personality, 45, 1–52.
Lerner, M. J. (1980). The belief in a just world. A fundamental delusion. New York: Plenum Press.
Lind, A. E., & Tyler, T. R. (1988). The social psychology of procedural justice. New York: Plenum Press.
Lotz, S., Okimoto, T. G., Schlösser, T., & Fetchenhauer, D. (2011). Punitive versus compensatory reactions to injustice: Emotional antecedents to third-party interventions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 477.
Maes, J. (1998). Eight stages in the development of research on the construct of belief in a just world. In L. Montada & M. J. Lerner (Eds.), Responses to victimizations and belief in a just world (pp. 163–186). New York: Plenum.
Major, B., & Deaux, K. (1982). Individual differences in justice behavior. In J. Greenberg & R. L. Cohen (Eds.), Equity and justice in social behavior (pp. 43–76). New York: Academic Press.
Mikula, G. (1986). The experience of injustice: Towards a better understanding of its phemenology. In H.-W. Bierhoff, R. L. Cohen, & J. Greenberg (Eds.), Justice in interpersonal relations (pp. 103–124). New York: Plenum Press.
Mikula, G. (1993). On the experience of injustice. In W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European review of social psychology (Vol. 4, pp. 223–244). Chichester: Wiley.
Mikula, G., Scherer, K. R., & Athenstaedt, U. (1998). The role of injustice in the elicitation of differential emotional reactions. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24(7), 769–783.
Miller, D. T. (2001). Disrespect and the experience of injustice. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 527–553.
Mohiyeddini, C., & Schmitt, M. (1997). Sensitivity to befallen injustice and reactions to unfair treatment in a laboratory situation. Social Justice Research, 10(3), 333–353.
Montada, L. (1993). Understanding oughts by assessing moral reasoning or moral emotions. In G. G. Noam, T. E. Wren, G. Nunner-Winkler, & W. Edelstein (Eds.), The moral self (pp. 292–309). Cambridge: MIT Press.
Montada, L., Dalbert, C., Reichle, B., & Schmitt, M. (1986). Urteile über Gerechtigkeit, “existentielle Schuld” und Strategien der Schuldabwehr [Judgments on justice, existential guilt, and defense mechanisms against guilt]. In F. Oser, W. Althof, & D. Garz (Eds.), Moralische Zugänge zum Menschen - Zugänge zum moralischen Menschen. Beiträge zur Entstehung moralischer Identität (Montada, L., Dalbert, C., Reichle, B, pp. 205–225). München: Kindt.
Montada, L., & Lerner, M. (1998). Responses to victimizations and belief in a just world. New York: Plenum Press.
Montada, L., & Schneider, A. (1989). Justice and emotional reactions to the disadvantaged. Social Justice Research, 3(4), 313–344.
Montada, L., & Schneider, A. (1991). Justice and prosocial commitments. In L. Montada & H.-W. Bierhoff (Eds.), Altruism in social systems (pp. 58–81). Göttingen: Hogrefe.
Nelissen, R. M. A., & Zeelenberg, M. (2009). When guilt evokes self-punishment: Evidence for the existence of a Dobby Effect. Emotion, 9(1), 118–122.
Patrick, S. L., & Jackson, J. J. (1991). Further examination of the equity sensitivity construct. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 73, 1091–1106.
Rubin, Z., & Peplau, L. A. (1975). Who beliefes in a just world? Journal of Social Issues, 31(3), 65–89.
Scherer, K. R., Wallbott, H. G., & Summerfield, A. B. (1986). Experiencing emotion: A cross-cultural study. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Schmitt, M. (1996). Individual differences in sensitivity to befallen injustice (SBI). Personality and Individual Differences, 21(1), 3–20.
Schmitt, M., Baumert, A., Fetchenhauer, D., Gollwitzer, M., Rothmund, T., & Schlösser, T. (2009). Sensibilität für Ungerechtigkeit [Sensitivity to injustice]. Psychologische Rundschau, 60(1), 8–22.
Schmitt, M., Baumert, A., Gollwitzer, M., & Maes, J. (2010). The Justice Sensitivity Inventory: Factorial validity, location in the personality facet space, demographic pattern, and normative data. Social Justice Research, 23, 211–238.
Schmitt, M., Behner, R., Montada, L., Müller, L., & Müller-Fohrbrodt, G. (2000). Gender, ethnicity, and education as privileges: Exploring the generalizability of the existential guilt reaction. Social Justice Research, 13, 313–337.
Schmitt, M., & Dörfel, M. (1999). Procedural injustice at work, justice sensitivity, job satisfaction and psychosomatic well-being. European Journal of Social Psychology, 29(4), 443–453.
Schmitt, M., Gollwitzer, M., Maes, J., & Arbach, D. (2005). Justice sensitivity: Assessment and location in the personality space. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 21(3), 202–211.
Schmitt, M., & Maes, J. (2006). Equity and justice. In J. Bryant & P. Vorderer (Eds.), Psychology of entertainment (pp. 273–289). Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Schmitt, M., & Mohiyeddini, C. (1996). Sensitivity to befallen injustice and reactions to a real-life disadvantage. Social Justice Research, 9(3), 223–238.
Schmitt, M., Neumann, R., & Montada, L. (1995). Dispositional sensitivity to befallen injustice. Social Justice Research, 8(4), 385–407.
Schmitt, M., Rebele, J., Bennecke, J., & Förster, N. (2008). Ungerechtigkeitssensibilität, Kündigungsgerechtigkeit und Verantwortlichkeitszuschreibungen als Korrelate von Einstellungen und Verhalten Gekündigter gegenüber ihrem früheren Arbeitgeber (Post Citizenship Behavior) [Justice sensitivity, justice of layoff decisions, and responsibility attributions as correlates of attitudes toward the former employer (postlayoff reactions)]. Wirtschaftspsychologie, 2, 101–111.
Tremblay, M., & Roussel, P. (2001). Modelling the role of organizational justice: effects on satisfaction and unionization propensity of Canadian. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 12, 717–737.
Vidmar, N. (2000). Retribution and revenge. In J. Sanders & V. L. Hamilton (Eds.), Handbook of justice research in law (pp. 31–63). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Vidmar, N. (2002). Retributive justice: Its social context. In M. Ross & D. T. Miller (Eds.), The justice motive in everyday life (pp. 291–313). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Walker, I., & Smith, H. (2002). Relative deprivation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Walster, E., Walster, G. W., & Berscheid, E. (1978). Equity: Theory and research. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Weiss, H. M., Suckow, K., & Cropanzano, R. (1999). Effects of justice conditions on discrete emotions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(5), 786–794.
Zeelenberg, M., Nelissen, R. M. A., Breugelmans, S. M., & Pieters, R. (2008). On emotion specificity in decision making: Why feeling is for doing. Judgment and Decision Making, 3(1), 18–27.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Thomas, N., Baumert, A., Schmitt, M. (2011). Justice Sensitivity as a Risk and Protective Factor in Social Conflicts. In: Kals, E., Maes, J. (eds) Justice and Conflicts. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19035-3_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19035-3_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-19034-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-19035-3
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsEconomics and Finance (R0)