- Human beings become sensitive to issues of injustice at early ages, and do so chronically. Yet we have a wide variety of principles of justice, many of which all of us subscribe to some of the time, but those principles are often not mutually compatible in particular situations. Rooted in Power Basis Theory, I propose that the psychological sense of injustice is a signal that our ability to meet basic needs is threatened. Power Basis Theory argues that there are different, universal basic needs that all people need to be able to satisfy in order to survive and thrive. Further, it argues that the ability to meet these needs is a joint function of one's own capabilities and the affordances or impedances of one's ecology, and that there are different kinds of power that address each need. My talk will briefly summarize some lab experiments on the dynamics of disempowerment and senses of injustice, and then present 3 international surveys which show that people's sense of their ecologies' assets and affordances/impedance drive their feeling their needs are met, which in turn influence how fair they think their national government is. In addition, these participant-level effects are moderated by subjective and objective affordances or impendences at the national level. Implications for justice theories and political psychology can be discussed.
Time and Location:
12:30pm, Zoom
Date:
Monday, November 16, 2020
Subtitle:
"Perceived Injustice as a Survival Signal." (Zoom link --https://virginia.zoom.us/j/94419570615?pwd=WjZDOWo4bmd2ektENnNtOFpBSjgvUT09#success, Meeting ID: 944 1957 0615, PWD: social2020).