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Perceived Injustice Predicts Intention to Litigate: Findings from a Spinal Cord Injury Sample

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Abstract

The current study examined the association between perceived injustice (assessed by the Injustice Experiences Questionnaire) and intent to litigate in a sample of individuals who had recently suffered a spinal cord injury and were currently on an inpatient rehabilitation unit. Higher perception of injustice was associated with reported interest in litigation. In logistic regression analyses, perceived injustice uniquely differentiated between individuals who foresaw involvement in litigation versus those who did not, with the blame/unfairness factor of the Injustice Experiences Questionnaire emerging as more significant than the severity/irreparability of loss factor. Both anticipated litigation and higher perception of injustice were associated with greater attribution of responsibility for injury to other person(s) and reduced forgiveness across a number of domains. Finally, a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was conducted to identify IEQ score most associated with anticipated litigation. This study is the first to examine perception of injustice in a spinal cord injury sample or the association between perceived injustice and litigation intent. Results support the possibility that psychological appraisals of injury may have significant legal ramifications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, USA

    Zina Trost

  2. Department of Surgical Education, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, USA

    Kimberley R. Monden

  3. Department of Psychology, Ohio State University Newark, Newark, USA

    Melissa Buelow

  4. Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton, USA

    Adriel Boals

  5. Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK

    Whitney Scott

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  1. Zina Trost
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  2. Kimberley R. Monden
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  3. Melissa Buelow
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  4. Adriel Boals
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  5. Whitney Scott
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Correspondence to Zina Trost.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors of the current manuscript (Drs. Trost, Monden, Buelow, Scott, and Boals) declare that they have no conflicts of interest with respect to this publication. There are no relationships or interests (e.g., funding sources or personal relationships) that could directly or indirectly influence or bias this work. Further, all procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (national and institutional). Informed consent was obtained from all individual subjects participating in the study. Finally, no animal studies were carried out by the authors for this article.

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Trost, Z., Monden, K.R., Buelow, M. et al. Perceived Injustice Predicts Intention to Litigate: Findings from a Spinal Cord Injury Sample. Psychol. Inj. and Law 9, 31–40 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12207-015-9245-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12207-015-9245-z

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