Source: (2009) European Journal of Social Psychology. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.657.
We propose a concept of restorative justice as a sense of justice deriving from consensus about, and the reaffirmation of,
values violated by an offence (in contrast to punishment-based retributive justice). Victims should be more likely to seek
restorative justice (and less likely retributive justice) when they perceive to share a relevant identity with the offender. In
Study 1, when the relevant identity (university affiliation) shared with the offender was made salient (vs. not), participants
found a consensus-based response more justice-restoring. In Study 2, when the group (company) shared with the offender
was cohesive (vs. not), participants more strongly endorsed a restorative justice philosophy and, mediated by this,
responded in consensus-restoring ways. In Study 3, when the offender was an ingroup (vs. outgroup) member, participants
more strongly endorsed a restorative justice philosophy, fully mediated by sadness emotions (author’s abstract)
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