Procedural Justice

Any interaction among people involves procedures or processes through which the people involved coordinate their actions. Procedural justice is the study of [Page 600]people's subjective evaluations of the justice of those procedures—whether they are fair or unfair, ethical or unethical, and otherwise accord with people's standards of fair processes for interaction and decision making. Procedural justice is usually distinguished from subjective assessments of the fairness of outcomes (distributive justice) and the degree to which people feel that they are gaining or losing resources in the group (outcome favorability).

The procedures found in groups, organizations, and societies have several key elements. First, there are those aspects of interaction linked to problem solving or decision making—that is, to managing group tasks. Second, there are the broader interpersonal dynamics ...