Procedural and Distributive Justice Beliefs for Self and Others
Assessment of a Four-Factor Individual Differences Model
Abstract
Both theory and research suggest that beliefs about justice for the self are distinct from beliefs about justice for others. Self-other differences, however, have not yet intersected with research on procedural and distributive justice. We examined the psychometrics and validity of a proposed four-dimensional measure of procedural and distributive justice beliefs for self and others. Participants from three samples (total N = 1463) completed dispositional measures of beliefs about fair outcomes (distributive justice beliefs) and processes (procedural justice beliefs). These measures were modified and expanded to record beliefs about justice for the self and justice for others. We also administered measures of well-being and harsh social attitudes. Factor analyses strongly supported the proposed four-factor model. In addition, higher-order self-others and procedural-distributive factors were indicated by theoretically appropriate lower-level factors. Finally, multiple regression analyses provided evidence for idiosyncratic links between four-factor individual differences and measures of well-being and harsh social attitudes. The proposed four-factor operationalization can provide individual differences researchers with a useful tool for bridging two important areas of justice theory and research that previously have been linked to health behavior, well-being, and harsh social attitudes.
References
(1965). Inequity in social exchange. In , Advances in experimental social psychology. New York: Academic Press.
(2008). Effects of social value orientations on fairness judgments. Journal of Social Psychology, 148, 223–245.
(2007). Structural equation modeling: Adjudging model fit. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 815–824.
(2003). Two spheres of belief in justice: Extensive support for the bidimensional model of belief in a just world. Journal of Personality, 71, 435–463.
(1980). Significance tests and goodness-of-fit in analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 588–606.
(1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen J. S. Long, Eds., Testing structural equation models (pp. 136–162). Newbury Park: CA: Sage.
(1999). Testing factorial invariance across groups: A reconceptualization and proposed new method. Journal of Management, 25(1), 1–27.
(1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385–396.
(1990). Belief in a just world and attitudes toward AIDS sufferers. Journal of Social Psychology, 130, 559–560.
(1999). The world is more just for me than generally: About the personal belief in a just world scale validity. Social Justice Research, 12, 79–98.
(2001). The justice motive as a personal resource: Dealing with challenges and critical life events. New York: Plenum.
(1999). Social identification effects in social dilemmas: A transformation of motives. European Journal of Social Psychology, 29, 871–893.
(1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75.
(2002). Mental health and personality of Slovak unemployed adolescents: The impact of belief in a just world. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 32, 732–757.
(2002). Understanding self-rated health. The Lancet, 359(9302), 181–272.
(1993). Social desirability bias and the validity of indirect questioning. Journal of Consumer Research, 20, 303–315.
(2003). Belief in a just world: Research progress over the past decade. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 795–817.
(1984). Just world beliefs and attitudes toward the poor. British Journal of Social Psychology, 23, 265–269.
(2005). Experimental research on just-world theory: Problems, developments, and future challenges. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 128–67.
(1958). Social behavior as exchange. American Journal of Sociology, 62, 597–606.
(2008). Social identity theory and self-categorization theory: A historical review. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2, 204–222.
(1995). Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues, and applications. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
(2004). LISREL 8.8: User’s reference guide. Chicago: Scientific Software International.
(2009). The impact of social value orientation and risk attitudes on trust and reciprocity. Journal of Economic Psychology, 30, 368–380.
(2008). Social desirability bias in CATI, IVR, and web surveys: The effects of mode and question sensitivity. Public Opinion Quarterly, 72, 847–865.
(1999). A metric measure for direct comparison of competing models in covariance structure analysis. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 169–197.
(1980). The belief in a just world: A fundamental delusion. New York: Plenum.
(1988). The social psychology of procedural justice. New York: Plenum.
(1996). The importance of distinguishing the belief in a just world for self versus others. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 666–677.
(2009). Justifying outcomes versus processes: Procedural and distributive justice beliefs as predictors of positive and negative affectivity. Current Psychology, 28, 249–265.
(2008). Exploring the malleability of belief in a just world: Evidence from a health resource allocation exercise. Psychology Journal, 5, 92–104.
(2007). Development and initial validation of a procedural and distributive just world measure. Personality and Individual Differences, 43, 71–82.
(2008). Just world beliefs, perceived stress, and health behavior: The impact of a procedurally just world. Psychology and Health, 23, 849–865.
(2009). Belief in a Just World, Social Influence, and Responsibility for Illness: Evidence of a Just World Boomerang Effect. Journal of Health Psychology, 14, 248–256.
(1971). Relation of birth order to morality types and attitudes toward the poor. Psychological Reports, 29, 732.
(1972). More on the protestant ethic. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 36, 40–44.
(1994). Research methods. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
(1978). Social values: Their definition, measurement and development. Journal of Research and Development in Education, 12, 121–137.
(1982). Social values and rules of fairness: A theoretical perspective. In J. Crzelak V. Derlega, Eds., Living with other people: Theory and research on cooperation and helping (pp. 43–71). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.
(1968). Motivational basis of choice in experimental games. Journal Experimental Social Psychology, 4, 1–25.
(1998). Belief in a just world: A hybrid of justice motive and self-interest. In L. Montada M. J. Lerner, Eds., Responses to victimization and belief in a just world (pp. 217–246). New York: Plenum.
(1971). A theory of justice. Cambridge, MA: Belknap.
(1998). How do observers of victimization preserve their belief in a just world cognitively or actionally? In L. Montada M. J. Lerner, Eds., Responses to victimization and belief in a just world (pp. 55–86). New York: Plenum.
(1994). Corrections to test statistics and standard errors in covariance structure analysis. In A. VonEye C. C. Clogg, Eds., Latent Variable Analysis: Applications for developmental research (pp. 399–519). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
(2009). Identity complexity: Intergroup contact, distinctiveness threat, and outgroup attitudes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 1085–1098.
(1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theory and empirical tests in 20 countries. In , Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 25, pp. 1–65). New York: Academic Press.
(1998). Development of four self-report measures of job stressors and strain: Interpersonal Conflict at Work Scale, Organizational Constraints Scale, Quantitative Workload Inventory, and Physical Symptoms Inventory. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 3, 356–367.
(2005). Justice for all, or just for me? More support for self-other differences in just world beliefs. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 637–645.
(2008). Justice for whom, exactly? Beliefs in justice for the self and various others. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 528–541.
(2000). Using multivariate statistics (4th Ed.). New York: Harper-Collins.
(1978). Differentiation between social groups: Studies in the social psychology of intergroup relations. London: Academic Press.
(1979). An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict. In W. G. Austin S. Worchel, Eds., The social psychology of intergroup relations. Monterey, CA: Brooks-Cole.
(1990). The personal/group discrimination discrepancy: Perceiving my group but not myself to be a target of discrimination. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 16, 254–262.
(1975). Procedural justice: A psychological analysis. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
(1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. New York: Blackwell.
(2003). The Group engagement model: Procedural justice, social identity, and cooperative behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7, 349–361.
(1998). Social justice and social movements. In D. T. Gilbert S. T. Fiske G. Lindzey, Eds. The handbook of social psychology (4th ed., Vol. 2, pp. 595–629). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
(1978). Equity: Theory and research. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
(1999). Effects of justice conditions on discrete emotions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, 786–794.
