Perception of justice and social justice

Perception of justice and social justice

What do people consider to be just? How do they deal with experiences of injustice? A particular focus of our research is on the personality trait justice sensitivity which describes how people react to experienced, observed, or self-inflicted injustice. One facet that we specifically address in our research is justice sensitivity from the victim's perspective (in short, "victim sensitivity"). People with high victim sensitivity tend to behave defensively in socially uncertain situations: they are suspicious, fearful of being exploited by others, and uncooperative and self-serving to protect themselves from such exploitation. In our research, we take a closer look at the social-cognitive processes underlying this effect and try to understand which cues trigger or stabilize a fear of exploitation over time. In addition, we are interested in the role that justice sensitivity may play in a societal context, for example in relation to political attitudes and behavior.

Selected Publications:

• Gollwitzer, M., Magraw-Mickelson, Z., Vollan, B., & Süssenbach, P. (2021). Victim Sensitivity in groups: When is one a detriment to all? Journal of Theoretical Social Psychology, 5, 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts5.76
• Süssenbach, P., Gollwitzer, M., Mieth, L., Buchner, A., & Bell, R. (2016). Trustworthy tricksters: Violating a negative social expectation affects source memory and person perception when fear of exploitation is high. Frontiers in Psychology, 7:2037. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.02037
• Süssenbach, P., & Gollwitzer, M. (2015). Us (ed): The role of victim sensitivity in potentially exploitative intergroup relationships. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 18, 241-255. https://doi.org/10.1177/1368430214556700
• Gollwitzer, M., Rothmund, T., & Süssenbach, P. (2013). The Sensitivity to Mean Intentions (SeMI) model: Basic assumptions, recent findings, and potential avenues for future research. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 7, 415-426.
• Gollwitzer, M., & Rothmund, T. (2011). What exactly are victim-sensitive persons sensitive to? Journal of Research in Personality, 45, 448-455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2011.05.003