Cross-cultural differences in understanding of justice
The last in 2011 laboratory research seminar was held on December 22nd . Olga Gulevich delivered a lecture "The ordinary understanding of justice: cross-cultural differences".
Despite the apparent integrity of the justice, psychologists understand this phenomenon as heterogeneous. There are four main types of justice: informational (honesty, clarity, completeness, timeliness, explanation), interpersonal (courtesy, respect), procedural (process control, monitoring and correction of the result, the neutralization of prejudice, equality of rights) and distributive (fairness, distribution efforts, abilities, knowledge / skills).
Olga Gulevich told about the differences between the understanding of justice in different countries. According to research, justice for the Russians is reduced to the distribution component, whereas in the U.S. and Western Europe, a very important role is also played by procedural fairness, which is in compliance with human rights. In Russia, equal rights do not differ from equality, and justice is perceived more as a reward for their actions (in a positive and a negative way).
She also spoke about her own research in the projects of ILSCR. The first research was aboutorganizational justice; 627 respondents participated. Themethod included four standards of fairness (equity, efforts, needs, equality) in the distribution between employees of the organization awards for their work and social benefits. Study confirmed the hypothesis that the most equitable rule recognized is impartiality. There were also significant differences between perceptions of fairness between the Russians and the peoples of the North Caucasus.
Another study assessing the fairness of interaction was attended by 330 employees of Russian companies and students living in five federal districts of Russia. An adapted methodology of J. Kolkitt (20 statements) and an overall assessment of fairness were used in the study. Respondents rated the important decisions of their leaders with respect to them (recruitment, appraisal, transfer, remuneration, dismissal, etc.). A cross-cultural comparison showed that distributive and interpersonal justice served the most important standard of justice to the Russians whereas the most important component of justice for the Ingush was informational one.
A discussion about socio-psychological aspects of justice followed the report. In particular, the cultural shifts toward justice in Russia were marked.Thus, it was noted that procedural fairness (attention to compliance with the prescribed rules and procedures, as well as respect to the individual rights) acquires more and more weight in the society.
Olga Pavlenko