Justice and Self-Interest: Two Fundamental Motives - Softcover

Lerner, Melvin J.; Clayton, Susan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1107640288 ISBN 13: 9781107640283

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2012

Synopsis

This volume argues that the commitment to justice is a fundamental motive and that, although it is typically portrayed as serving self-interest, it sometimes takes priority over self-interest. To make this case, the authors discuss the way justice emerges as a personal contract in children's development; review a wide range of research studying the influences of the justice motive on evaluative, emotional, and behavioral responses; and detail common experiences that illustrate the impact of the justice motive. Through an extensive critique of the research on which some alternative models of justice are based, the authors present a model that describes the ways in which motives of justice and self-interest are integrated in people's lives. They close with a discussion of some positive and negative consequences of the commitment to justice.

About this title

Book Description

This volume argues that the commitment to justice is a fundamental motive and that, although it is typically portrayed as serving self-interest, it sometimes takes priority over self-interest. The authors present a model that describes the ways in which motives of justice and self-interest are integrated in people's lives.

About the Author

Melvin J. Lerner is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of the Department of Psychology of the University of Waterloo, where he founded the Division of Social Psychology. The majority of his research efforts focus on the theme of justice in people's lives. Much of that research has been summarized in several volumes, beginning with Belief in a Just World: A Fundamental Delusion (1980), which was awarded the Quinquenual Prize from the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and continuing in several co-edited volumes: with S. Lerner, The Justice Motive in Social Behavior: Adapting to Times of Scarcity and Change (1981); with Gerold Mikula, Entitlement and the Affectional Bond (1994); with Leo Montada, Responses to Victimizations and Belief in a Just World (1998); and Current Societal Concerns about Justice (1996). In addition, Lerner is the founding editor of the journal Social Justice Research and was the co-recipient of a Max-Planck-Forschungspreis and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society for Justice Research.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1107640288
• ISBN 13: 9781107640283
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 280