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Abstract
Authorities such as the police and the government play a vital function in maintaining order in the social systems in which groups exist. Relational models of procedural justice (PJ) state that fair treatment from authority affirms the social standing of those identifying with the authority, communicating inclusion and respect. Previous research suggests that social identity may also inform expectations of authority fairness. Focusing on an intergroup context of authority decision-making, the present research tests a novel hypothesis regarding whether intergroup social status may also inform expectations of authority fairness in terms of fair treatment and favourable outcomes. Operationalising PJ as the extent to which people are provided voice by authorities, three experimental studies showed no effect of intergroup status on expected PJ from authority. A sample weighed internal meta-analysis (N = 704) also provided no support for the hypothesis that relative outgroup status shapes expectations of voice from authority (d = -.02). Intergroup status did, however, influence the extent to which people expected authorities to distribute resources favourably towards the outgroups. Lower status outgroups were expected to receive less favourable outcomes from authorities than equal status outgroups (d = -.23). Thus, outgroup status affects people’s judgements of the resources that outgroups deserve from authority. The present research is among the first to consider how intergroup relations may drive expectations of how authorities will act towards other social groups. Implications for wielding authority and the role of perceived intergroup threat in intergroup settings are discussed.
Highlights
Authorities such as the police and the government play a vital function in maintaining order in the social systems in which groups exist
European Union (EU) citizens in the lower outgroup status condition were perceived as having lower status in comparison to the ingroup, while the perceived status of the EU citizens in the equal status condition did not differ from the perceived status of the ingroup
We sought to investigate whether authority fairness is universally pursued for everyone, independently of their social standing
Summary
Authorities such as the police and the government play a vital function in maintaining order in the social systems in which groups exist. Focusing on an intergroup context of authority decision-making, the present research tests a novel hypothesis regarding whether intergroup social status may inform expectations of authority fairness in terms of fair treatment and favourable outcomes. Intergroup status did, influence the extent to which people expected authorities to distribute resources favourably towards the outgroups. We consider the extent to which outgroup status determines people’s expectations of how fairly people should be treated by authority, both in terms of whether they should be given a say over decisions that affect them and in terms of the resources that should be allocated to them. Being offered an opportunity to voice one’s opinion has an important symbolic meaning as it conveys respect even when it does not come with any tangible outcomes; just because an authority considers one’s view does not mean that the outcomes will be in any way lenient
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