The Emerging Social Neuroscience of Justice Motivation

Humans from a very early age are deeply sensitive to issues of justice and fairness, both in their own lives and in the lives of others. Most people are highly motivated to pursue justice and condemn injustice. Where does this concern for justice come from? Here we integrate findings in evolution, development, psychology, behavioral economics, and social neuroscience to highlight multiple potential drivers of justice motivation. We argue that justice motivation arises from complementary rapid heuristics and deliberation, each utilizing distinct and interacting neural circuitry. This framework is useful for explaining observed symmetries and asymmetries in responses to experiencing or observing injustice and may help to explain why individuals vary in their responses to injustice.