The Social Psychology of Procedural Justice

Transcription

1 The Social Psychology of Procedural Justice

2 CRITICAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL JUSTICE Series Editor: MELVIN J. LERNER University oj Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada CHILDREN'S COMPETENCE TO CONSENT Edited by Gary B. Melton, Gerald P. Koocher, and Michael J. Saks DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR International Perspectives on Positive Morality Edited by Ervin Staub, Daniel Bar-Tal, Jerzy Karylowski, and Janus Reykowski JUSTICE Views from the Social Sciences Edited by Ronald L. Cohen JUSTICE AND THE CRITIQUE OF PURE PSYCHOLOGY Edward E. Sampson JUSTICE IN SOCIAL RELATIONS Edited by Hans-Werner Bierhoff, Ronald L. Cohen, and Jerald Greenberg THE JUSTICE MOTIVE IN SOCIAL BEHA VI OR Adapting to Times of Scarcity and Change Edited by Melvin J. Lerner and Sally C. Lerner SCHOOL DESEGREGATION RESEARCH New Directions in Situational Analysis Edited by Jeffrey Prager, Douglas Longshore, and Melvin Seeman THE SENSE OF INJUSTICE Social Psychological Perspectives Edited by Robert G. Folger THE SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY OF PROCEDURAL JUSTICE E. Allan Lind and Tom R. Tyler A Continuation Order Plan is available for this series. A continuation order will bring delivery of each new volume immediately upon publication. Volumes are billed only upon actual shipment. For further information please contact the publisher.

3 The Social Psychology of Procedural Justice E. Allan Lind Institute for Civil Justice The RAND Corporation Santa Monica, California and Tom R. Tyler Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois and The American Bar Foundation Chicago, Illinois Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

4 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Lind, E. Allan (Edgar Allan), The social psychology of procedural justice. (Critical issues in social justice) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Justice, Administration of. 2. Social contract. 3. Social psychology. I. Tyler, Tom R. II. Title. III. Series. K240.L M ISBN ISBN DOI / ISBN (ebook) Springer Science+Business Media New York, 1988 Originally published by Plenum Press, New York in 1988 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1988 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher

5 Preface We dedicate this book to John Thibaut. He was mentor and personal friend to one of us, and his work had a profound intellectual influence on both of us. We were both strongly influenced by Thibaut's insightful articulation of the importance to psychology of the concept of procedural justice and by his empirical work with Laurens Walker demonstrating the role of procedural justice in reactions to legal institutions. The great importance we accord the Thibaut and Walker work is evident throughout this volume. If anyone person can be said to have created an entire field of inquiry, John Thibaut created the psychological study of procedural justice. (To honor Thibaut thus in no sense reduces our recognition of the contributions of his co-worker, Laurens Walker, in the creation of the field. We are as certain that Walker would endorse our statement as we are that Thibaut, with characteristic modesty, would demur from it.) Even to praise Thibaut in this fashion falls short of recognizing all of his contributions to procedural justice. Not only did he initiate the psychological study of the topic, he also built much of the intellectual foundation upon which the study of procedural justice rests. Thibaut's work with Harold Kelley (1959; Kelley & Thibaut, 1978) created a social psychological theory of interdependence that, among many other applications, serves as the basis for one of the major models of the psychology of procedural justice. His work with Claude Faucheux and Charles Gruder (Thibaut, 1968; Thibaut & Faucheux, 1965; Thibaut & Gruder, 1969) on the role of contractual norms in the resolution of conflict both illustrated the utility of the Thibaut and Kelley model and presaged one of the most important themes of procedural justice-that all parties to a relationship can benefit from social contracts that limit and channel egoistic inclinations. As we shall see in Chapter 2, this idea is an important feature of the Thibaut and Walker work on procedural justice, which viewed procedures as social contracts to regulate conflict for general v

6 vi PREFACE benefit. Even after he moved on to topics other than procedural justice, Thibaut's interests in the psychology of conflict and the psychological foundation of social institutions led to work closely linked to many important issues in procedural justice. His research with Chester Insko and others (e.g., Insko et al., 1980) on the emergence of leadership norms and on the psychology of group identity and intergroup conflict addressed topics that are likely to be important in future research and theory on procedural justice. Thibaut's death was a great sadness and an enormous loss to our field. We are fortunate, however, that a scientist of his caliber shared our interests and devoted so much of his intellect, time, and energy to understanding procedural justice. We who study the field, and all who benefit from its applications, owe much to John Thibaut. We would like to acknowledge here the support and encouragement of many other scientists. The completion of this book owes much to the early and continuous encouragement of Melvin Lerner. Many of our fellow procedural justice researchers, individuals whose works will be cited frequently throughout this book, have encouraged us in this enterprise. Laurens Walker has encouraged us in our research and in our work on this book. Robert Folger, Jerald Greenberg, and Blair Sheppard have also offered much encouragement and have been constant allies as we tried to carry the message of procedural justice to audiences inside and outside psychology. We would also like to acknowledge the support that the field in general and our own research in particular has received from the Law and Social Sciences Program of the National Science Foundation. The Director of the Program, Felice Levine, has been instrumental in encouraging our work in procedural justice and in engendering an active and vibrant field of procedural justice research. Without the support of the Law and Social Sciences Program, beginning with its funding of the original Thibaut and Walker project, there might well be no coherent field of procedural justice research. Without Felice Levine's encouragement in particular the field would be far less advanced than it is now. Allan Lind's work in procedural justice has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Institute for Civil Justice at the RAND Corporation, RAND's Behavioral Sciences Department, and the University of lllinois Research Board. At the University of Illinois, thanks are due to the faculty and students of the Department of Psychology, and especially the members of the Social, Organizational, and Individual Differences Division. At RAND, Barbara Williams, Deborah Hensler, Gus Shubert, David Kanouse, Kevin McCarthy, and Richard Darilek have especially been instrumental in creating a climate of encouragement and support that contributed substantially to this book. Direct

7 PREFACE vii support for Lind's work in completing the book has been supplied by the RAND Behavioral Sciences Department. Special thanks are due two of Lind's Iq colleagues, Deborah Hensler and Bill Felstiner, who offered both their encouragement for this enterprise and, even more important, the stimulus for thought that comes from shared interests. Tom Tyler would like to thank the American Bar Foundation and its former director John Heinz for support and encouragement in both his research on procedural justice and his efforts to complete this book. ABF project directors Lori Andrews, Jonathan Casper, Janet Gilboy, Wayne Kerstetter, Robert Nelson, Raymond Solomon, and Eric Steele also provided helpful comments on the research described here. The Northwestern University Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research, directed by Margaret Gordon, provided a congenial environment within which much of Tyler's contribution was written. Special thanks are due to Christopher Jencks, Dan Lewis, Jane Mansbridge, and Wesley Skogan for helpful suggestions. A number of people read and commented on an earlier draft of this book: Robert Bies, Jeanne Brett, Ronald Cohen, Jerald Greenberg, Eugene Griffin, Valerie Hans, Larry Heuer, Gina Ke, Robert Kidder, Kwok Leung, Mack O'Barr, and Judith Resnik. Their suggestions resulted in substantial improvement in the manuscript, and we are very grateful indeed for their help and their interest.

8 Contents Chapter 1. Introduction... 1 Outcomes and Process... 1 Scope of the Present Book... 2 Organization of the Book... 5 Chapter 2. Early Research in Procedural Justice... 7 Early Research on Procedure and Psychology Distributive Fairness and Equity The Work of Thibaut and Walker When Do People Tum to Third Parties? Adversary and Inquisitorial Systems of Justice Procedural Justice as Fairness Procedural Justice and the Distribution of Control in Decision Making The Thibaut and Walker Theory of Procedure Description of the Theory Comment and Critique Chapter 3. Research Methods in Procedural Justice Research Research Designs LaboratoryExperiments Scenario Studies Field Experiments Field Studies Correlational Designs Convergence of Findings in Procedural Justice Research ix

9 x CONTENTS Chapter 4. Procedural Justice in Law I: Legal Attitudes and Behavior Procedural Concerns in Law Consequences of Procedural Fairness Judgments Consequences of the Experience of Procedural Justice Procedural Preferences Chapter 5. Procedural Justice in Law II: Sources and Implications of Procedural Justice Judgments Sources of Procedural Fairness Judgments Control over Process and Decision Expression and Consideration of Arguments Other Procedural Fairness Standards Outcome Effects on Procedural Fairness Other Desiderata of Legal Procedures Accuracy of Evidence and Decisions Issues of Current Debate Policy Implications of Procedural Justice: The Case of Court- Annexed Arbitration Chapter 6. The Generality of Procedural Justice Leventhal's Theory of Procedural Justice A Theory of Procedural Justice Judgments Comments and Critique... ~ Context, Culture, and the Generality of Procedural Justice Concepts Studies of Context and Procedural Justice Studies of Culture and Procedural Justice Chapter 7. Procedural Justice in the Political Arena... " Consequences of Judgments about the Fairness of Government The Basis of Public Reactions to Government Policies and Authorities Influences on Policy Evaluations Influences on Incumbent and System Evaluations Implications Procedural Justice and Political Behavior What Is Procedural Justice in Politics? Voice A Theory of Fair Political Process

10 CONTENTS xi Chapter 8. Procedural Justice in Organizations Procedures in Organizations Procedures and Fairness in Organizational Psychology Equity and Motivation Participation and Satisfaction Consequences of Procedural Justice in Organizations Organizational Attitudes Distributive Fairness and Outcome Satisfaction Compliance with Organizational Rules and Decisions Procedural Justice and Performance Antecedents of Procedural Justice in Organization Control and Expression Other Fairness Standards Designing Organizational Procedures Chapter 9. Conclusions and Hypotheses The Validity of Procedural Justice Phenomena Methodological Concerns Substantive Concerns Generalizations of Procedural Justice New Relations New Arenas The Meaning of Procedural Justice Process and Decision Control New Determinants of Procedural Justice Implications of the Procedural Justice Literature Implications for the Social Sciences Applications Chapter 10. Two Models of Procedural Justice The Self-Interest Model Description of the Model Predictions from the Model Strengths and Limitations of the Model A Group Value Model Procedures as Elements of Groups and Societies Predictions from the Model Strengths and Limitations of the Model Reconciliation of the Two Models Implications of Procedural Justice for Social Psychology

11 xii CONTENTS Appendix References Author Index Subject Index