Abstract
A considerable number of individuals show resistance to reform, whereas others, although similarly affected, do not react in a resistant way at all. Based on research showing that people differ concerning how sensitive they are toward being a victim of injustice (victim justice sensitivity), we argued that people high in victim justice sensitivity perceive a reform more as an illegitimate limitation to their freedom resulting in more reactance. Consequently, people high in victim justice sensitivity should show more resistance to reform. We conducted three studies to test these assumptions. Our studies revealed that physicians (healthcare reform, Study 1) and students (introduction of tuition fees, Studies 2 and 3) with higher victim justice sensitivity experienced more reactance and thus showed more resistance to reform. The implications of these results for the implementation of political reforms are discussed.
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Notes
In Study 2, we were able to measure victim justice sensitivity with the 10-item scale by Schmitt et al. (2005) as well as with the two items used in the pre-study and in Study 1. The correlation analyses revealed a significant correlation between the standard scale and the two-item scale, r = .27, p < .05.
Participants in the victim perspective priming condition (M = 5.94, SD = 2.16) and in the no priming condition (M = 5.81, SD = 1.78) did not differ, F(1, 68) = 0.08, p > .05, η2 = .01.
Participants in the victim perspective priming condition (61%) and in the no priming condition (65%) did not differ, χ2(1, N = 70) = 0.14, p > .05, eta = .04.
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Traut-Mattausch, E., Guter, S., Zanna, M.P. et al. When Citizens Fight Back: Justice Sensitivity and Resistance to Political Reform. Soc Just Res 24, 25–42 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-011-0125-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-011-0125-8