The Social Psychology of Gender Differences and Procedural Justice in Close Relationships

Abstract

In this dissertation the influence of procedural justice on the reactions of men and women in contexts related to close relationships. Women are thought to be more sensitive to procedural justice than men because women are more caring towards others and value their close relationships more than men. Therefore, women will be more sensitive to the way they are treated by close others than men. The aim of this dissertation is to study gender differences in procedural justice in close relationships and provide more insight in why and under which conditions gender differences in procedural justice occur. These gender differences will be studies from three different perspectives. From a macro-level perspective the social roles that men and women occupy are studied. Earlier studies from Tyler and Lind (1992) showed that individuals with low status are more sensitive to procedural justice than individuals with high status. However, these status effects in procedural justice are not often found. Gender and status differences are often found parallel to each other. Inherent to traditional gender roles in society is that women have lower status and less access to power than men. Although some studies found support that women are more sensitive to procedural justice than men, others studies did not. The present hypothesis is that the effect of procedural justice can be found in the combination of status and gender. In other words, the combination of being a women and having low status should make these individuals prone to procedural justice. From a meso-level perspective the role of relational orientation will be studied. Gagné and Lydon argued that women are more relationally oriented on a dispositional level than men. The differences in relational orientation between men and women may help explain why men and women react differently to procedural justice. More specifically, the hypothesis is that when situational conditions salientize relational orientation, both men and women should be equally sensitive to procedural justice, whereas in situations where relational orientation is not salient women should be more sensitive to procedural justice than men. Plausible explanations that could explain the gender effect at a micro-level perspective are cognitive differences between men and women. More specifically, cognitive-experiential self theory (Epstein, 1994) helps to explain how cognitive differences between men and women could play a role in their different reactions toward procedural justice. In daily life, women have the tendency to process information in an experiential way, this refers to an automatic, heuristic, and affective way of information processing. Men have the tendency to process information in a rationalistic way, this means a logical, analytical, and effortful way of information processing. Cognitive-experiential self theory assumes that an experiential mindset is closely linked to affect-related experiences. A relevant affect-related experience is a justice experience. Thus, adopting an experiential mindset could lead to a heightened sensitivity to procedural justice. Because of their natural preference, women who adopt an experiential mindset will react more strongly to procedural justice than men who adopt an experiential mindset.