The Justice Sensitivity Inventory: Factorial Validity, Location in the Personality Facet Space, Demographic Pattern, and Normative Data

This article investigates the psychometric properties of a self-report inventory for measuring individual differences in four
components of justice sensitivity (JS): victim sensitivity, observer sensitivity, beneficiary sensitivity, and perpetrator
sensitivity. A representative sample (N = 2510) was employed to (a) estimate the reliability of a newly developed perpetrator sensitivity scale, (b) test the factorial
validity of this scale together with three previously developed scales (victim, observer, and beneficiary sensitivity), (c)
estimate correlations between JS and demographic variables (gender, age, education, employment status, marital status, and
residency in East versus West Germany), and (d) provide normative data for the computation of standard scores. A demographically
heterogeneous convenience sample (N = 327) was used to locate the JS dimensions in the personality space of narrow facet factors. Results from confirmatory factor
analyses demonstrated the factorial validity of the JS scales. Regression analyses with JS scales as criteria and personality
facet scales as predictors suggested that JS cannot be reduced to combinations of personality facets. Demographic effects
were small, explaining a maximum of 1.4% of JS variance. Women and East Germans were found to be more justice sensitive than
men and West Germans, respectively. Victim sensitivity decreased with age; perpetrator sensitivity decreased with education.
Taken together, our results corroborate the validity of the JS Inventory and contribute to a better psychological understanding
of JS.