The fear of injustice

Köhler, Lucas John Emmanuel (2024): The fear of injustice: how victim sensitivity affects political attitudes and behaviour. Dissertation, LMU München: Fakultät für Psychologie und Pädagogik

Abstract

Victim sensitivity – the dispositional sensitivity to self-related injustice – has been associated with a preference for right-wing political actors, anti-immigration attitudes, and a tendency to refrain from pro-environmental behaviour. This dissertation draws on theoretical assumptions and prior research to examine the psychological processes that explain the association of victim sensitivity with political attitudes and behaviour. Three manuscripts, including eight empirical studies, provide insights into the link between the sensitivity to perceiving oneself as a victim of moral transgressions and a right-wing political orientation, and into the motivational and social-cognitive processes that explain the antisocial tendencies of victim-sensitive individuals in the contexts of immigration and climate action. I discuss theoretical and practical insights, methodological limitations as well as avenues for future research.

• Dokumententyp: Dissertationen (Dissertation, LMU München)
• Keywords: Victim sensitivity, justice sensitivity, political orientation, anti-immigration attitudes, climate action
• Themengebiete: 100 Philosophie und Psychologie ; 100 Philosophie und Psychologie > 150 Psychologie
• Fakultäten: Fakultät für Psychologie und Pädagogik
• Sprache der Hochschulschrift: Englisch
• Datum der mündlichen Prüfung: 22. Februar 2024
• 1. Bericht­erstatter:in: Gollwitzer, Mario