Are predictions and perceptions of post-traumatic growth a form of ultimate justice reasoning?

Abstract

Researchers have questioned whether self-report questionnaires adequately assess post-traumatic growth as it was theorized (positive personality change after trauma), versus assessing a broader coping mechanism. Across four studies, we examine whether individuals report post-traumatic growth as a coping mechanism to restore a sense of justice. In Studies 1 and 2, participants predicted greater post-traumatic growth for a hypothetical victim after a severe accident that caused grave suffering (and disrupted one’s belief in a just world), compared to an accident that caused minimal suffering (and did not disrupt one’s belief in a just world). Both perceptions of deservingness of post-traumatic growth for the victim (a belief in a just world mechanism) and engagement in deliberative rumination (a post-traumatic growth mechanism) mediated the effect of suffering on the prediction of post-traumatic growth in Study 2. The same pattern of results held when participants considered their own imagined suffering (Study 3), and when participants reported post-traumatic growth from distressing events in their own lives (Study 4). As such, we conclude that following an episode of suffering, either occurring to another or to oneself, self-reports of post-traumatic growth on questionnaires can reflect two distinct motivations: (1) an attempt to cope with perceived injustices and (2) the will to search for meaning in one’s suffering.

What does a personality science approach to post-traumatic growth reveal?

“…The issues with studying post-traumatic growth cross-sectionally and with retrospective questionnaires have been well documented (Blackie et al, 2015; Jayawickreme & Blackie, 2014), but two papers in this issue highlight some of the challenges and the importance of longitudinal measurement to this topic. First, Harvey and Blackie (2022) demonstrated that individuals’ perceptions of post-traumatic growth for others and themselves on standard surveys are underpinned by two mechanisms. While one mechanism—deliberative rumination—is consistent with theory on post-traumatic growth (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004), the other mechanism of deservingness reflects a defensive attempt to re-appraise suffering to restore belief in a just world.…”

Creating new resources: The impact of new group memberships on posttraumatic growth in China

“…Future studies could promptly assess their psychological state or provide a post‐study debriefing to ensure participants receive adequate psychological support and address any concerns. Second, although some researchers have used hypothetical scenarios in posttraumatic growth (Harvey & Blackie, 2022), discrepancies remain between such scenarios and participants' actual experiences. Future research could examine the causal effect of new group memberships on posttraumatic growth through a longitudinal research design or an experimental design that manipulates participants' recollections of real traumatic experiences.…”

“…New group membership manipulation. The manipulation material consisted of two parts: one part involved the hypothetical trauma created based on the suffering manipulation by Harvey and Blackie (2022); the other part involved extracting critical information from new group memberships subscale developed by Haslam et al (2008) as the primary description of acquiring new group membership after the trauma. The material introduced a protagonist named Zhang Wei (or Zhang Jing), who fell down the stairs resulting in a spinal injury that required surgery and rehabilitation.…”

Correlations between somatic symptoms and resilience among a group of Vietnamese : Lessons learned from Covid 19

“…Resilience in the view of post traumatic growth reported to be the empowerment of the survivor: she must be the author of her own recovery [12]. Connor-Davidson (2003) found that those who have a high level of resilience are aware and tolerant of their own and other people's emotions, and have strong faith in the future [9].…”