Good, the Bad, and the Just

Drawing on multidisciplinary findings and ideas, this book discusses fair allocation of social resources, such as goods, services and information, in a novel and integrated way. The role of the essential features of allocation behavior: motivation, cognition and emotion, as well as morality and reactions to perceived unfairness are examined in the newly developed Justice Model. The author offers explanations as to why, how and to what extent, people, in an effort to attain justice, allocate social resources between self and others and among others. It is held that the allocation event, featuring actor, recipient and observer, as well as the resources to be allocated by an actor, can function as a guideline for the essentials of fair behavior. The work explores the conditions under which an actor may deviate from a just division of social resources thus instigating a reaction from recipients and observers. The study covers various levels of analysis ranging from the intra-personal to the societal. The book will be of interest to academics and researchers working in the areas of crime, law, justice, public policy and governance.

Prize: Riël Vermunt holds the Lifetime Achievement Award for 2014, awarded by The International Society for Justice Research (ISJR). ’Riël Vermunt’s book provides a thoughtful explanation of our understanding of the psychology of fairness, as it has emerged over the last half-century, and it gives an exciting new perspective on how and why people act fairly (or unfairly). It is a wonderful work for anyone interested in the topic.’ E. Allan Lind, Duke University, USA ’What do people think is just? How do ideas of justice shape actual allocations? What is the magnitude of the injustice associated with specified discrepancies between the actual reward and the just reward? What are the reactions to injustice? In this broad-ranging and stimulating book, Riel Vermunt addresses these questions, examining the three protagonists in justice processes - allocator, rewardee, observer - the goods and bads that are allocated, and the unfolding of the sense of justice. The pages are alive with the thoughts, sentiments, and actions of the justice life.’ Guillermina Jasso, New York University, USA

Dr Riël Vermunt is Associate Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at Leiden University, the Netherlands. He has authored and co-authored many articles and chapters on justice and co-edited several volumes in English and Dutch. He is one of the founders of the International Society of Social Justice Research and is the recipient of the International Society for Justice Research lifetime achievement award for 2014. In 1987 he founded the Dutch journal Gedrag en Organisatie (Behavior and Organization).