Third-party responses to injustice: a review on the preference for compensation

ABSTRACT

People are often confronted with injustice that is done to others. In such cases, observers (i.e. third-parties) of injustice can restore justice by punishing the perpetrator, as shown by a vast amount of research. However, this focus on punishment has led to the neglect of another behavioural option: compensation of the victim. The current review focuses on this latter behavioural option. More specifically, it is argued that third-parties are more compensation-oriented than previous literature appears to demonstrate. To support this argument, previous research is discussed and the factors that might explain observers’ preference for compensation are outlined. To conclude, suggestions for future research are presented.

KEYWORDS:

• Third-party
• injustice
• punishment
• compensation
• preference

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Janne Van Doorn

Janne van Doorn is an assistant professor of Criminology at the Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology at Leiden University, The Netherlands. She has conducted research on (third-party) emotions and decision making in relation to victimization.

Lieve Brouwers

Lieve Brouwers is a is an early career researcher in Psychology at the Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.