ABSTRACT
People psychologically manufacture perceptions of justice in situations as varied as capricious natural events, random strokes of luck, and their sociopolitical systems. In this chapter we explore why people are motivated to perceive justice, what factors modulate people’s motivation to perceive justice, and what the consequences of this motivation are. Throughout, we link motivation to perceive justice to more general motivated cognitive processes. We begin by outlining general motivated cognition, why it occurs, and three key theoretical reasons for why people are motivated specifically to perceive justice: To alleviate uncertainty, facilitate goal pursuit, and reduce ideological dissonance. We then discuss how these theoretical reasons for the justice motive can explain four key moderators of justification: Dependence, inevitability, threat, and limited cognitive resources. We also illustrate how these moderators have similar effects on motivated cognition more broadly, suggesting that similar forces drive both justification and rationalization. Finally, we conclude by discussing implications of the justice motive for goal pursuit, psychological well-being, stereotyping, and social change.
