INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN PEOPLE’S PERCEPTIONS OF JUSTICE AND FAIRNESS

The goal of this study is to explore a novel concept of justice using allocations of outcomes and understanding the connection between those allocations and social cognitive variables. Justice is conceptualized through the lens of two opposing frames: consistency and compensatory. Participants assigned positive or negative outcomes to one of two hypothetical people, one person being depicted as “lucky”, the other as “unlucky.” A consistency sense of justice views justice as keeping the order of the world (positive with lucky), whereas a compensatory sense of justice understands it as a balancing act (positive with unlucky). ANOVA’s were ran and a single significant difference was found. In one condition, those whose had a consistency sense of justice had a significantly more internal locus of control than those who had a compensatory sense of justice. Further research will be needed to clarify why this difference did not emerge for all allocations.