Scientific journal paper Q3
Does injustice reduce cognitive performance? An experimental test
Isabel Correia (Correia, I.); Ana-Raquel Lopes (Lopes, A.-R.); Patrícia Alcântara (Alcântara, P.); Hélder Alves (Alves, H.);
Journal Title
Revista de Psicologia Social
Year (definitive publication)
2017
Language
English
Country
United Kingdom
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Alternative Titles

(Spanish/Castilian) ¿Provoca la injusticia una disminución en el rendimiento cognitivo? Una prueba empírica

Abstract
In this paper we report two experimental studies showing for the first time that injustice causes a reduction in cognitive performance in complex tasks. The two experiments (Study 1, n = 106, Study 2, n = 90) used two different paradigms. In Study 1 participants were exposed to injustice happening to other people. In Study 2 participants themselves were the targets of injustice. In both studies the dependent variable was cognitive performance in a complex task. Specifically, in Study 1, participants solved anagrams, and in Study 2, they solved several Raven matrices. The dependent measures were the number of anagrams and Raven matrices solved correctly. We found that cognitive performance was worse in the unjust condition compared to the just condition (i.e., fewer items solved correctly). These results imply that unfairness in everyday life may have a deleterious effect on individuals’ capacity to think in a complex way. Possible mediators for this effect are proposed.
Acknowledgements
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Keywords
Cognitive performance,Experiment,injustice,Justice
  • Psychology - Social Sciences
Funding Records
Funding Reference Funding Entity
UID/PSI/03125/2013 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia