Justice for me and for all: Longitudinal analysis of justice perceptions across demographic indicators

Abstract

Most research on justice perceptions stems from high‐income contexts, even though most youth grow up in contexts of inequality and injustice. This study examines the development of justice perceptions in 659 Brazilian adolescents (51.3% male; 45.2% White) in São Paulo across 3 years, ages 12, 13, and 14. Perceptions of justice of the world declined with age and perceived justice in one's personal life differed across ethnic, economic, and educational groups. Privileged groups differentiated more between their evaluations of the world and their personal lives. K‐means clustering revealed five trajectories of justice beliefs, which significantly differed across school type, race/ethnicity, and income levels. Evidence suggests that personal belief in a just world reflects known social group inequalities.