CHAPTER 14 Procedural Justice and System-Justifying Motivations

Abstract Findings from system justification theory suggest that procedural justice information processing may be subject to motivational influences, and therefore may not always be accurate. In particular, experiencing procedural injustice may pose a threat to beliefs about the legitimacy and benevolence of the groups and systems a person inhabits and motivate a more positive reinterpretation of the experience in line with one's beliefs. This hypothesis was tested among 997 respondents to a survey concerning personal interactions with legal authorities. Results indicate that more conservative respondents, who exhibit a stronger motivation to justify the system compared with more liberal respondents, reported greater overall satisfaction with the authority figure, while adjusting for outcome favorability, and greater overall decision acceptance. In addition, more conservative respondents were less sensitive to decreases in procedural justice and showed a slower decrease in evaluations of the authority in response to experiencing greater injustice, compared to more liberal respondents. Implications for legitimacy of authorities and systems are discussed.