Skip to main content
Log in

The experience of injustice: Some characteristics and correlates

  • Published:
Social Justice Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Research on the phenomenology of justice, though messy, is necessary to enrich the more precise models of justice and to identify gaps in those models. The present studies were designed as a partial replication and extension of Mikula (1986). The goal of Study 1 was to obtain descriptions of the experience of injustice by asking subjects to describe typically unjust situations. Comparisons are made between the data from the present American sample and that of Mikula's Austrian subjects. Building on this, Study 2 asked subjects open-ended questions about their reactions to specific unjust situations. Both individual and situational characteristics affected responses to injustice, though not always in consistent ways. Implications for justice research are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adams, J. S. (1965). Inequity in social exchange. In Berkowitz, L. (ed.),Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 2, Academic Press, New York, pp. 267–299.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brickman, P., Folger, R., Goode, E., and Schul, Y. (1981). Microjustice and macrojustice. In Lerner, M. J., and Lerner, S. C. (eds.),The Justice Motive in Social Behavior Plenum Press, New York, pp. 173–202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clayton, S. D. (1989, April). The mental construction of hypothetical situations. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Boston, MA.

  • Clayton, S. D., and Lerner, M. J. (1991). Complications and complexity in the pursuit of justice. In Hinde, R., and Groebel, J. (eds.),Cooperation and Prosocial Behavior Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 173–184.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crosby, F. (1976). A model of egoistic relative deprivation.Psychol. Rev. 83: 85–113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damon, W. (1981). The development of justice and self-interest during childhood. In Lerner, M. J., and Lerner, S. C. (eds.),The Justice Motive in Social Behavior Plenum Press, New York, pp. 57–72.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deutsch, M. (1975). Equity, equality and need: What determines which value will be used as the basis for distributive justice:J. Soc. Issues 31: 137–149.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deutsch, M. (1983). Current social psychological perspectives on justice.Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 13: 305–319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Folger, R. (1986). Rethinking equity theory: A referent cognitions model. In Bierhoff, H. W., Cohen, R. L., and Greenberg, J. (eds.),Justice in Social Relations Plenum Press, New York, pp. 145–162.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, J. (1984). On the apocryphal nature of inequity distress. In Folger, R. (ed.),The Sense of Injustice: Social Psychological Perspectives Plenum Press, New York, pp. 167–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hogan, R., and Emler, N. P. (1981). Retributive Justice. In M. J. Lerner and S. C. Lerner (eds.), TheJustice Motive in Social Behavior, Plenum Press, New York, pp. 125–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lavine, H., and Clayton, S. D. (1990, March). Counterfactual thinking and the perception of injustice. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association, Philadelphia, PA.

  • Lerner, M. J. (1975). The justice motive in social behavior: Introduction.J. Soc. Issues 31(3): 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, M. J. (1981). The justice motive in human relations. In Lerner, M. J., and Lerner, S. C. (eds.),The Justice Motive in Social Behavior Plenum Press, New York, pp. 11–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lerner, M. J. (1980).The Belief in a Just World Plenum Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Major, B., and Deaux, K. (1982). Individual differences in justice behavior. In Greenberg, J., and Cohen, R. L. (eds.),Equity and Justice in Social Behavior Academic Press, New York, pp. 43–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mikula, G. (1986). The experience of injustice. In Bierhoff, H. W., Cohen, R. L., and Greenberg, J. (eds.),Justice in Social Relations Plenum Press, New York, pp.103–123.

    Google Scholar 

  • Opotow, S. (1988, August). Outside the realm of fairness: Aspects of moral exclusion. Paper presented at the 96th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Atlanta, GA.

  • Opotow, S. (1990). Moral exclusion and injustice: An introduction.J. Soc. Issues 46(1): 1–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prentice, D. A., and Crosby, F. J. (1987). The importance of context for assessing deservingness. In Masters, J. C., and Smith, W. P. (eds.),Social Comparison, Social Justice and Relative Deprivation Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ, pp. 165–182.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement.Psychol. Monogr. 80.

  • Rubin, Z., and Peplau, L. A. (1975). Who believes in a just world?J. Soc. Issues 31: 65–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, T. R. (1989). The psychology of procedural justice: A test of the group-value model.J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 57: 830–838.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, T. R., and Caine, A. (1981). The influence of outcomes and procedures upon satisfaction with formal leaders.J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 41: 642–655.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Clayton, S.D. The experience of injustice: Some characteristics and correlates. Soc Just Res 5, 71–91 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01048378

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01048378

Key words

Navigation