Introduction Distributive justice is the justice that is concerned with arranging the social order so that every one in the society appropriately or fairly receives the goods available. It is a statement for values of what should be done. Distributive justice may also be defined as the rules in a culture that specify how the economic and social justice is distributed among the members. Contemporary research on distributive justice in the context of reward allocation mainly deals with various determinants of preference for specific justice (allocation) rules, such as equity (merit), equality, and need (Adams, 1965; Homans, 1961; Leventhal, 1980). Piaget and Kohlberg point out the characteristics of various developmental stages and consider justice as a central; theme in moral development. Piaget proposed that the child develops two forms of justice concept namely, equality or distributive justice and retributive justice which contains the basic element of equity or “due proportion between acts and punishments” (Piaget, 1932/1965, p. 196). Justice concept develops, as a part of moral development, from a heteronymous stage where moral concepts are based on obedience to what authority dictates, to an autonomous stage where judgments are made on the basis of appreciation of the reciprocity of human relationships. The general developmental sequence is from an authority-oriented justice rule preference, through a stage of “equalitarianism” expressed as equality preference, to a stage of “equity” in which external circumstances are taken into account while making justice decisions. In general, Piaget (1932/1965) assigns a secondary role to learning and other environmental influences in moral development; at the same time, he does allow for the role of parental influences in the form of authority and social interaction in the form of co-operation and reciprocity (Windmiller, 1980). A more detailed description of the development of justice rule preferences is presented by Damon (1980, 1981), incorporating both cognitive and moral development. According to Damon, justice rule preferences, that is the allocation of rewards rather than punishment develops in six stages, which are described below.
Applied Indian Psychology: New Perspectives Edited by Akbar Husain Shamshad Hussain Md. Habibur Rahman Khan