Work

A Self-Activation Hypothesis of Affective Reactions to Fair and Unfair Events: Evidence for Supraliminal and Subliminal Processes

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: Building and extending on justice theories and work on self-regulation, the current paper proposes a self-activation hypothesis of affective reactions to fair and unfair events, stating that in circumstances in which people’s selves are activated, stronger affective reactions to fair and unfair events are more likely, compared to circumstances in which people’s selves are not or less strongly activated. Findings of two experiments indeed show that simply activating the self (supraliminally or even subliminally) amplifies affective reactions to fair and unfair procedures (Experiment 1) and fair and unfair outcomes (Experiment 2). These findings thus reveal the important role of activation of the self for understanding fairness reactions. In the discussion, we note the relevance of our self-activation hypothesis for insights into different accounts formulated in the justice domain.

Source: Social Justice Research

DOI: 10.1007/s11211-011-0122-y

Authors: Kees van den Bos, Joost Miedema, Riël Vermunt, Frederike Zwenk

Institutions: Utrecht University, Leiden University, Ministry of Security and Justice

Language: English

Topic: Social and Intergroup Psychology

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,290