Memory for Justice-Related Information: The Joint Impact of Justice Sensitivity and the Framing of the Learning Situation

We investigated two factors that determine accurate memory for justice-related information: Justice Sensitivity as a personality factor is argued to shape the elaboration and accessibility of representations in the domain of justice of an individual learner, whereas the framing of the learning situation determines whether justice concepts are activated during learning. Consequently, both factors determine the degree of elaboration of encoding of new justicerelated information and, thus, the accuracy of memory at a later point in time. In an incidental learning study, seventy-six students received information on the selection of Elite Universities in Germany with the instruction to either rate the perceived novelty of the information or its perceived justice. A week later, they completed a recognition test. Recognition was tested for just, unjust, and justice-unrelated information. Results indicated that both variables — Justice Sensitivity and the framing of the learning situation — are functionally equivalent and shape accuracy of memory for justice-related information in a synergistic interaction.