Justice sensitivity

Abstract

The present chapter reviews findings on justice sensitivity as an indicator of an individual’s concern for justice. People differ systematically in their inclination to perceive injustice and the strength of their cognitive, emotional, and behavioral reactions. These differences have been found to be consistent across types of injustices and relatively stable across time. Justice sensitivity has been differentiated according to the perspectives that can be adopted towards injustice (victim, observer, beneficiary, perpetrator). These sensitivity perspectives have been shown to be distinct from other personality variables. Whereas victim sensitivity seems to entail rather antisocial inclinations and the fear to be exploited, observer, beneficiary, and perpetrator sensitivity are related to prosocial orientations. The sensitivity perspectives have been shown to be powerful predictors of reactions to perceived injustice, people’s own adherence to justice standards, and more distal health outcomes. Theory and findings regarding the psychological processes that translate the justice sensitivity perspectives into emotional and behavioral reactions are reviewed, and questions regarding the development of justice sensitivity across the lifespan are raised. In sum, a substantial body of evidence highlights the importance of justice sensitivity for a complete understanding of justice-related phenomena such as protest, retaliation and forgiveness, cooperation, altruistic sharing, compensation, and punishment, moral courage, and solidarity. The chapter closes by identifying open questions and directions for future research.