Personality and Ability Effects on Reactions to Argumentative Unfairness

The study focusses on the relationship of personality and reactions to unfair argumentative contributions. Unfair contributions were embedded in four argumentative episodes and presented in written, auditory, and role-play mode. Each participant's cognitions, emotions, and verbal responses were assessed and aggregated across the four episodes. Although no differences in evoked cognitive, emotional, and verbal responses arose between the different presentation modes, the identification of unfair contributions and the verbal responses' collaboration depended on the participants' cognitive abilities and personality traits. Implications for theory and practice of social justice research are discussed.