Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Cortica

Literature Review

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2025): From synpatic pruning to educational neuroscience

Les effets positifs du sentiment de justice à l’école : Une revue narrative

DOI
https://doi.org/10.26034/cortica.2025.8547
Submitted
September 3, 2025
Published
2025-12-15

Abstract

Unfair school experiences are associated with negative consequences such as declining motivation, low academic satisfaction or social problems. Considering these negative effects, this article reviews and summarizes the positive effects of teacher justice. By presenting the current state of knowledge, the aim is to highlight the importance of subjective experiences of fairness for students. Beneficial effects on schooling and behavior are observed in the scientific literature. More specifically, teacher justice positively predicts motivation, engagement, and school success. It plays a protective role against school dropout and reduces school bullying, aggressive and delinquent behavior. A few educational practices are suggested to promote teacher justice.

References

  1. Berti, C., Mameli, C., Speltini, G., & Molinari, L. (2016). Teacher Justice and Parent Support as Predictors of Learning Motivation and Visions of a Just World. Issues in Educational Research, 26(4), 543–560.
  2. Berti, C., Molinari, L., & Speltini, G. (2010). Classroom justice and psychological engagement: Students’ and teachers’ representations. Social Psychology of Education: An International Journal, 13(4), 541–556. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-010-9128-9
  3. Chen, S., Koning, S., Polos, J., Lam, P., Hargrove, T., Ebner, N., Aronoff, J., & McDade, T. (2025). Teacher unfairness in adolescence, educational attainment, and adult Health: The role of school- and individual-level perceptions tested in a national cohort study. SSM - Population Health, 30, 101810. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmph.2025.101810
  4. Chory‐Assad, R. M. (2002). Classroom justice: Perceptions of fairness as a predictor of student motivation, learning, and aggression. Communication Quarterly, 50(1), 58–77. https://doi.org/10.1080/01463370209385646
  5. Chory‐Assad, R. M., & Paulsel, M. L. (2004). Classroom justice: Student aggression and resistance as reactions to perceived unfairness. Communication Education, 53(3), 253–273. https://doi.org/10.1080/0363452042000265189
  6. Cohen-Charash, Y., & Spector, P. E. (2001). The role of justice in organizations : A meta-analysis. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 86(2), 278 321. https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.2001.2958
  7. Dalbert, C., & Stoeber, J. (2006). The personal belief in a just world and domain-specific beliefs about justice at school and in the family: A longitudinal study with adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 30(3), 200–207. https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025406063638
  8. Donat, M., Knigge, M., & Dalbert, C. (2018). Being a good or a just teacher: Which experiences of teachers’ behavior can be more predictive of school bullying? Aggressive Behavior, 44(1), 29–39. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21721
  9. Donat, M., Umlauft, S., Dalbert, C., & Kamble, S. V. (2012). Belief in a just world, teacher justice, and bullying behavior. Aggressive Behavior, 38(3), 185–193. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21421
  10. Gini, G., Angelini, F., & Pozzoli, T. (2024). Unfair teachers, unhappy students: Longitudinal associations of perceived teacher relational unfairness with adolescent peer aggression and school satisfaction. Frontiers in Psychology, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1321050
  11. Grazia, V. (2025). Teacher justice and (A)motivation: A longitudinal study in secondary school. Social Psychology of Education, 28(1), 142. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-025-10105-w
  12. Grazia, V., Molinari, L., & Mameli, C. (2024). Contrasting school dropout: The protective role of perceived teacher justice. Learning and Instruction, 89, 101826. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2023.101826
  13. Hascher, T., & Mori, J. (2024). Student well-being, perceived teacher error management, and perceived teacher justice. Learning and Instruction, 92, 101901. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.101901
  14. Kazemi, A. (2016). Examining the Interplay of Justice Perceptions, Motivation, and School Achievement among Secondary School Students. Social Justice Research, 29(1), 103–118. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-016-0261-2
  15. Lu, Y., Jiang, Y., Xie, B., & Zhou, W. (2025). The invisible power of fairness: The internal link between teacher fairness and school bullying among athletic students. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2025.2487002
  16. Mameli, C., Caricati, L., & Molinari, L. (2020). That’s not fair! The effects of teacher justice and academic achievement on Self and Other’s resistant agency. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(4), 933–947. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjep.12335
  17. Molinari, L., & Mameli, C. (2018). Basic psychological needs and school engagement: A focus on justice and agency. Social Psychology of Education, 21(1), 157–172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-017-9410-1
  18. Molinari, L., Speltini, G., & Passini, S. (2013). Do perceptions of being treated fairly increase students’ outcomes? Teacher–student interactions and classroom justice in Italian adolescents. Educational Research and Evaluation, 19(1), 58–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2012.748254
  19. Peter, F., & Dalbert, C. (2010). Do my teachers treat me justly? Implications of students’ justice experience for class climate experience. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 35(4), 297–305. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2010.06.001
  20. Peter, F., Kloeckner, N., Dalbert, C., & Radant, M. (2012). Belief in a just world, teacher justice, and student achievement: A multilevel study. Learning and Individual Differences, 22(1), 55–63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2011.09.011
  21. Sobaih, A. E., & Gharbi, H. (2024). Do my teachers treat me fairly? Examining the mediating effect of emotional support in the link between distributive justice and students’ academic performance. Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 7(2), 77–87. https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2024.7.2.19
  22. Taylor, P. H. (1962). Children’s Evaluations of the Characteristics of the Good Teacher. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 32(P3), 258–266. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1962.tb01769.x
  23. Umlauft, S., & Dalbert, C. (2017). Justice experiences and feelings of exclusion. Social Psychology of Education, 20(3), 565–587. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-017-9387-9
  24. Xu, H., & Chen, Z. (2023). Perceived teacher procedural justice and aggressive behaviors among Chinese primary students: The mediating roles of negative evaluation of school rules and malicious envy. Social Psychology of Education, 26(1), 25–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-022-09737-z
  25. Yan, P. (2021). Chinese EFL Students’ Perceptions of Classroom Justice: The Impact of Teachers’ Caring and Immediacy. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.767008
  26. Zhaleh, K., & Estaji, M. (2025). “I feel secure, happy, and peaceful when my teacher implements justice in class”: A study of how Iranian EFL learners perceive and respond to teacher classroom justice. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1), 1030. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05461-z