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Understanding Justice Sensitivity
Justice sensitivity can be a strength when we know how to use it effectively.
Updated April 20, 2024 Reviewed by Kaja Perina
Key points
- Justice sensitivity is the tendency to be sensitive to perceiving injustice.
- Justice sensitivity can lead to either aggressive or prosocial behavior depending on the situation.
- Even prosocial justice sensitivity can be problematic when it is obsessive.
- At the same time, justice sensitivity can be an asset if it is understood and managed effectively.
“Jennifer, life isn’t fair!”
I can still see the exasperated look on my professor’s face after I complained about the selection process for a required internship.
At the time, I felt hurt by my professor’s chiding, but I now understand that he was reacting to my justice sensitivity (JS), a trait that has brought me both inspiration and aggravation. JS involves four components: 1. Being sensitive to perceiving injustice. 2. Reacting emotionally to it. 3. Obsessing over it. And 4. Feeling an urge to undo or fix it.
Some forms of JS are prosocial. They entail picking up on injustice committed against others and are related to behaviors like altruism and activism. I became lifelong friends with Casey in second grade because of her prosocial JS. She noticed that I was sitting alone during story time and patted the spot on the carpet next to her, indicating that she wanted me to join.
Another form of JS is victim sensitivity, or believing you, personally, are being exploited. Victim sensitivity can lead to aggressive behaviors like vengeance-seeking. It can also subtly hurt relationships. For example, Kerry and I were close friends when we worked together. Then, she moved away and had a baby when I was still single. I offered to drive to her house and bring her lunch, but she declined and stopped calling. I was angry and hurt, and she was upset that I didn’t understand how unavailable her parental responsibilities made her. A couple of years later, I had my first child, but I still kept up with friends, even if it meant bringing my infant daughter and a diaper bag with me. I felt even more resentful of Kerry because she hadn’t been able to make the same effort.
I eventually understood that Kerry had not meant to hurt me, but rather, our expectations for friendship no longer matched up. She wanted a more convenient friend, and I wanted a more dedicated one. Reframing the situation allowed me to move on without continuing to resent her.
JS has led me to think deeply about social justice issues. In addition, life experiences involving JS have enriched my clinical work. Sometimes, my clients talk about putting effort into friendships with people who don’t seem to consider their feelings nearly as much. I remind them that they are free to move on to different friendships that better fit their needs. They can do that without having to prove who was right or wrong.
This brings home the point that even prosocial JS behaviors, like continuing a friendship out of fairness, can be problematic when that relationship makes you unhappy. In that case, JS might be obsessive.
Another example of JS gone awry is thinking you don’t deserve your accomplishments. Several of my clients have felt guilty about accepting academic accommodations, such as extended time to complete assignments. They think it’s unfair they have this advantage when other students with more severe challenges don’t receive it. They also falsely believe that accommodations dilute the value of their academic achievement. I remind them that seeking accommodations speaks to their resilience. It is part of their success story.
In the context of friendships, obsessively prosocial JS interferes with being genuine, such as when you have someone over for dinner because you “must” reciprocate their invitation from last week. This attitude might carry the risk of creating a transactional relationship, and even more worrisome, of burning out. Ironically, while prosocial JS leads to positive regard by others, obsessive degrees of it push others away.
Consider the following tips for leveraging JS in a way that brings about greater connection with others:
1. Respond to Pain with Curiosity. Pain, including emotional distress, is our body’s alarm system. Sometimes, it alerts us to actual danger, while other times it is overly sensitive.
It helps to give others the benefit of the doubt when you suspect they might be exploiting you. This allows you to be open to all possible explanations for their behavior. When we respond to pain with curiosity, we allow ourselves to process it without responding impulsively, or compulsively, as in the case of having someone over just for the sake of “even Steven.”
2. Keep a Kindness File. I have a Word document where I keep a record of occasions when I felt touched by others’ kindness. I look back at it whenever I start to drift into a victim-sensitivity mindset. You can also keep track of your successes and, or, kind gestures as a reminder that you deserve good things.
3. Embrace the Diversity of Human Perception. Consider the diversity of how humans think can help us be gentler with ourselves and others. When you fear someone is exploiting you, consider whether their perception of acceptable social behavior might be a more reasonable explanation.
When you fear others will think badly of you, remind yourself that you can live by your value system.
JS is a quality worth embracing. It can be a gift if we learn how to operate it with compassion and grace.
References
Baumert, A., Adra, A. & Li, M. (2022). Justice Sensitivity in Intergroup Contexts: A Theoretical Framework. Social Justice Research 35, 7–32 (2022).
Baumert, A., Schmitt, M. (2016). Justice sensitivity. In A.B & M.S. (Eds.) Handbook of Social Justice Theory and Research (161-180). New York: Springer.
Groskurth K, Beierlein C, Nießen D, Baumert A, Rammstedt B, & Lechner C.M. (2023). An English-Language adaptation and validation of the Justice Sensitivity Short Scales-8 (JSS-8). PLoS One, 18(11).
