The Effects of Perceived Injustice on Deference to the Law

The research reported here investigates the consequences of the divergence of the law and common sense justice. For example, if people view one particular law as unjust, are people less likely to comply with other laws in addition to the specific unjust law in question? Recent theoretical analysis (see, e.g., Robinson & Darley, 1997) suggests that discrepancies between what is perceived as just and what the law requires diminish the moral credibility of the law, which is manifested in lower levels of compliance with the law generally. Two experiments are reported that empirically tested the theoretical link between justice perceptions and compliance with the law. In Experiment 1, participants who were exposed to perceived unjust laws were more likely to report expressed willingness to violate unrelated laws in their everyday lives, compared to participants exposed to perceived just laws. In Experiment 2, participants were exposed to a perceived unjust or just legal outcome, and then behavioral compliance with the law was measured in the context of mock juror verdict preferences. Results indicated that where exposure to a perceived unjust outcome made racial and gender group membership salient, the relationship between perceived injustice and compliance was affected by group identity.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Nadler, Janice

Contributors dc:contributor

• Davis, James H.

• Law

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9971144

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/82309