The Importance of Procedural Justice in Shaping Individuals' Perceptions of the Legal System

ABSTRACT.The material gathered in this study provides a rich and diverse context for understanding the psychology of procedural justice, the relationship between emotions and procedural justice, the effects of the fairness of procedures used by legal authorities, and procedural factors that may have significant impacts on citizens' behavior during encounters with police. My aim in this paper is to examine the particular effects procedural justice has on individuals, the relationship between procedural justice and affect intensity, the concept of procedural justice, and the role of emotion in the formation of procedural justice judgments.Keywords: procedural justice judgments, subjective perceptions, psychology1. IntroductionScholarship about the effects of procedural justice and process-based policing, the relationship between affect intensity and procedural justice perceptions, the moral principles of procedural justice, and the subjective quality of procedural justice has increased and consolidated, especially in recent years. Yet, there have been few comprehensive assessments of what research has learned about the effects of police behavior related to judgments of procedural justice, individuals' subjective perceptions of procedural justice, the positive influence of procedural justice on compliance behavior, and the social psychology of procedural justice. The objective of this paper is to emphasize the relationship between procedural justice and citizen behavior, the effects of procedural justice factors, the evaluation of procedurally fair procedures, and the effects of fair procedures in process-based policing. The paper generates insights about the factors that lead to perceptions about procedural justice in psychology, individual perceptions of procedural fairness, the effect of procedural justice factors on citizen compliance, and procedural justice as a principle in policing.2. The Social Psychology of Procedural JusticeBal et al. focus on the interplay between age and trust as moderators of the relation between procedural justice and turnover: trust and age are potential moderators of the relation between procedural injustice and turnover, and the combined roles of age and trust may affect the processes that lead from justice perceptions to employee turnover. The employment relationship is essential in procedural justice, whereas trust plays a larger role in procedural justice compared to distributive justice. Trust will buffer the negative impact of procedural justice on turnover, playing a central role in monitoring and evaluation of justice at the workplace. Bal et al. stress that trust plays an important role in evaluations of procedural justice in terms of turnover, prior trust modifies the relation between procedural justice and turnover, and procedural justice is related to changes in trust over time (low procedural justice relates to higher turnover). The buffering effect of trust on the relation between procedural justice and turnover is strongest among older workers, procedural justice violations may be the primary source of information for younger workers to react upon, whereas people who perceive high procedural justice and have high trust are more willing to stay with the organization. Older workers are better at coping with negative events than younger workers, and thus react less intensely to procedural injustice. The relation between procedural justice and turnover will be smallest among older workers with high trust.That is to say, older workers' trust in the leader becomes essential in evaluations of procedural justice. For younger workers, procedural justice is the most prominent signal from the organization to react upon. For younger workers, fair procedures are particularly relevant (when younger workers perceive low procedural justice, they will leave the organization). Bal et al. claim that the role of age in the relation between procedural justice and turnover cannot be just a stronger reaction of younger workers to injustice. …