Although there is pratically no research relating the phenomenology of injustice to actual experiences of people who inflict or suffer injustice, some studies on everyday experiences of injustice have demonstrated that people use the term injustice in a broader sense than social psychologists. This study compares these and other findings from previous research on justice with Brazilian data from three groups. Through retrospective reports, 99 teenagers, 100 undergraduates, and 98 workers described an injustice they had suffered, their thoughts, feelings and reactions to it. The results showed the influence of the type of group on several aspects related to injustice. Contrary to what was predicted by Equity Theory, the most frequently reported events were unjustified blaming, and the most frequent reaction was non-acting and resignation. These results are discussed in terms of their informational utility to a revision of Equity Theory and to cross-cultural research on justice.
experience of injustice; equity; reaction to injustice