Social identification as a determinant of concerns about individual-, group-, and inclusive-level justice

Abstract

Extending concepts of micro- and macrojustice, three levels of justice are distinguished. Individual-, group-, and inclusive-level justice are defined in terms of the target of justice concerns: one's individual treatment, one's group's treatment, and the distribution in the collective (e.g., nation). Individual-level justice permits a more narrowly defined frame of reference (group), whereas the other two levels imply a wider "inclusive category" (nation). Levels of identification with both the target and the relevant inclusive category were predicted to determine justice concerns. In the area of tax compliance, findings suggested no justice concerns when both group and national identification were weak, individual-level concerns when only group identification was strong, group-level concerns when both subgroup and national identification were strong, and inclusive-level concerns when only national identification was strong. Show more