NCJ Number
166514
Journal
Social Justice Research Volume: 9 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1996) Pages: 351-369
Date Published
1996
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This article examines gender differences in treatment and in judgments of distributive and procedural justice.
Abstract
Three hundred nine litigants who had been involved in arbitrated auto negligence lawsuits responded to exit surveys. Two mechanisms by which gender might influence justice perceptions were explored. First, a chivalry bias might be operating, in which the procedures systematically favor women over men. Results provided only modest support for the chivalry bias. While women received slightly better awards and perceived somewhat more control than men, these differences had no effect on perceptions of distributive or procedural justice. Second, men and women may differ systematically in the factors they use as indicators of distributive and procedural justice. The study revealed that men and women did differ on how they defined distributive justice, with women placing more emphasis on their perceived standing and on their perceptions of the favorability of their outcomes. There were no substantial gender differences in how procedural justice was defined. Results are interpreted in terms of how women might be responding to insecurity about facing a justice system historically dominated by men. Tables, references