Understanding Students' Classroom Justice Experiences and Responses

Abstract

The purpose of this study was threefold: to (a) identify students' experiences of distributive, procedural, and interactional injustice; (b) to examine students' emotional responses to these unjust experiences; and (c) to investigate students' behavioral reactions to perceived injustice. Participants were 138 undergraduate students who provided written narratives in response to three open-ended questions. Results revealed (a) distributive justice issues included grades, opportunities to improve grades, instructor affect, and punishment; (b) procedural justice issues included grading procedures, make-up/late policies, scheduling/workload, information for exams, feedback, instructor error, not following through with promises, class procedures, and not enforcing policies; and (c) interactional justice issues included insensitivity/rudeness, stating or implying stupidity, sexist/racist/prejudiced remarks, singling out students, accusing students of wrongdoing, and instructor affect. Students' emotional responses ranged from anger to empathy and their behavioral reactions ranged from dissent to withdrawal. Collectively, students reported procedural injustice almost three times as often as the other two types of injustice, and student emotional and behavioral responses were overwhelmingly negative. These results lend support to the validity of prior classroom justice measures, theorizing, and research.

Keywords:

• Classroom Justice
• Equity Theory
• Students' Emotions
• Students' Behaviors
• Organizational Justice
• Unfairness
• Dissent

Notes

1. All kappa reliability estimates are based on Potter and Levine-Donnerstein's (1999) formula for Cohen's kappa.

2. Detailed results are available from the second author.

3. Detailed results are available from the second author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Sean M. Horan

Sean M. Horan (Ph.D., West Virginia University, 2009) is an Assistant Professor in the College of Communication at DePaul University

Rebecca M. Chory

Rebecca M. Chory (Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2000) is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at West Virginia University

Alan K. Goodboy

Alan K. Goodboy (Ph.D., West Virginia University, 2007) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at Bloomsburg University