A recent study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has found that how people perceive unfairness after traumatic events can have a lasting impact on their psychological health. The research was conducted in the aftermath of the October 7th Hamas attack and during the subsequent conflict.
Led by Dr. Gadi Gilam, head of the translational Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience (tSCAN) lab at the Institute of Biomedical and Oral Research, Faculty of Dental Medicine at Hebrew University, along with graduate students Yuval Mor-Elzas and Sarit Kubichek, the study recruited nearly 1,700 Israeli participants three months after the attack. More than 600 participants completed follow-up assessments six months later.
Participants were asked about their exposure to traumatic events, symptoms related to trauma, perceptions of injustice, and emotional distress such as depression, anxiety, and anger.
The findings showed that individuals who viewed their suffering as especially unjust or irreparable reported higher levels of traumatic stress symptoms. This pattern held true both three months and six months after the initial event. According to Dr. Gilam: "Across both time points, as individuals perceived and experienced their suffering as more unfair and irreparable, they reported higher levels of traumatic stress symptoms."
The researchers also found that perceived injustice could predict future severity of trauma-related symptoms even when accounting for other factors like proximity to violence or existing emotional distress. "Importantly, perceived injustice predicted future severity of traumatic symptoms even after accounting for levels of exposure and proximity to the traumatic events and for emotional distress symptoms," said Dr. Gilam.
Between January and July 2024, anger levels among participants increased significantly while other measures—traumatic symptoms, perceptions of injustice, depression, and anxiety—remained stable. Dr. Gilam noted: "This stability underscores how perceived injustice may serve as a persistent cognitive prism, shaping how survivors interpret ongoing events and their emotional aftermath." He added that anger is a common response to feelings of injustice and may represent another focus for therapy.
The authors hope these results will encourage mental health professionals to address perceptions of injustice in treatment plans for trauma survivors.
