When Maya was seven, she came home from school sobbing. Not because something had happened to her—but because her teacher had spoken harshly to another student. "It wasn't fair," she said. "He didn't mean to knock over the paint. And everyone laughed at him." She couldn't eat dinner. She couldn't fall asleep. Three days later, she was still bringing it up.

Maya's parents were baffled. Their daughter seemed more distressed about this incident than the boy it had happened to. Was she being dramatic? Seeking attention? Or was something else going on?

What Maya's parents were seeing has a name: justice sensitivity. It's a temperament trait that makes some children feel injustice more deeply than their peers—sometimes intensely enough to cause real distress.

Justice sensitivity isn't a disorder. It's actually connected to empathy, moral development, and often intellectual giftedness. But when it's intense, it can be overwhelming—for the child and for the adults trying to help them.

If you're seeing this pattern in a child, you're in the right place.

Not sure this is what you're seeing? If you want help identifying whether a child's fairness concerns are typical or intensified, start with our guide to recognizing fairness anxiety in children.

What Is Justice Sensitivity?

Justice sensitivity is a personality dimension that describes how strongly a person perceives and reacts to injustice. Some people barely notice unfairness; others feel it viscerally.

Researchers have studied justice sensitivity for decades, beginning with psychologist Manfred Schmitt in the 1990s. The construct has been validated across cultures and age groups, and it's now considered a distinct personality trait—something stable over time that can't be explained by broader personality factors alone (Schmitt et al., 2010; Baumert & Schmitt, 2016).

In children, justice sensitivity looks like:

  • Intense emotional reactions to injustice—not just their own, but injustice toward others
  • Distress about unfairness in the world: in the news, in history, in social situations at school
  • Taking on a "justice warrior" or "defender" role: standing up for the underdog, calling out unfairness
  • Difficulty letting go of unfair situations they witnessed or heard about
  • A strong sense of right and wrong that emerged early in development

Here's the key distinction: children with high justice sensitivity often feel more upset about injustice happening to others than about unfairness directed at themselves. Maya wasn't crying because she was in trouble—she was crying because she witnessed someone else being treated unfairly, and it hurt her to see it.

This isn't empathy in the typical sense. It's not just "I understand how you feel." It's closer to: "I feel your pain as if it were happening to me, and I can't stop feeling it."

The Research Behind It

Justice sensitivity isn't folk psychology—it's a well-researched construct with decades of empirical support.

Researchers have identified four distinct "perspectives" of justice sensitivity (Schmitt et al., 2005, 2010):

  1. Victim sensitivity: How strongly you react when you are treated unfairly
  2. Observer sensitivity: How strongly you react when you witness someone else being treated unfairly
  3. Beneficiary sensitivity: How strongly you react when you benefit from someone else being treated unfairly
  4. Perpetrator sensitivity: How strongly you react when you treat someone unfairly

Children who show the pattern described in this article—distress about injustice to others—are high in observer sensitivity (and often beneficiary and perpetrator sensitivity too). Researchers sometimes combine these three into "altruistic justice sensitivity" because they all reflect concern for fairness beyond self-interest (Strauß & Bondü, 2022).

Key findings from the research:

  • Justice sensitivity is measurable from middle childhood onward. Studies with children ages 5-12 have replicated the same factor structure found in adults (Bondü & Elsner, 2015; Strauß et al., 2021).
  • It's stable over time. Retest reliabilities in children resemble those found in adolescents and adults, suggesting JS is a fairly stable trait from childhood onward (Bondü et al., 2016).
  • It's connected to moral development. Children high in altruistic justice sensitivity show associations with advanced moral reasoning and stronger moral identity (Strauß & Bondü, 2022).
  • It predicts both positive and negative outcomes. Altruistic JS is linked to prosocial behavior and empathy. But victim sensitivity (concern for fairness to oneself) is linked to more aggressive behavior and emotional problems (Bondü & Elsner, 2015; Bondü et al., 2017).

This last point is important: justice sensitivity isn't inherently good or bad. It depends on which perspective is dominant and how it's expressed.

Why Some Children Have It

Why do some children feel injustice so deeply while others seem to shrug it off? Several factors contribute.

Temperament

Some children are simply wired to notice and feel injustice more acutely. This appears early—often before age five—and tends to persist. It's part of their constitutional makeup, as fundamental as being introverted or high-energy.

Empathy and Perspective-Taking

Children who are highly empathetic may feel others' pain as if it were their own. When they witness unfairness, it's not abstract—it's visceral. The classmate who got yelled at isn't just "someone who had a bad moment." He's a real person with real feelings, and those feelings are now flooding through the empathetic observer.

Intellectual Giftedness

Justice sensitivity is disproportionately common in intellectually gifted children. These children often develop abstract moral reasoning earlier than their peers—they understand concepts like fairness, rights, and equality at a sophisticated level. But they may not yet have the emotional regulation skills to handle the feelings that come with that understanding.

They get fairness conceptually before they can cope with unfairness emotionally.

Emotional Overexcitability

Polish psychologist Kazimierz Dąbrowski developed a theory of "overexcitabilities"—heightened sensitivities found more commonly in gifted and creative individuals. One of the five types is emotional overexcitability: a tendency toward intense feelings, strong empathy, and deep concern for others (Dąbrowski & Piechowski, 1977).

According to this framework, emotional overexcitability includes "concern for others (empathy), sensitivity in relationships," "self-evaluation and self-judgment," and "intensity of feeling: extremes of emotion, complex emotions" (Piechowski, 1979). Children high in emotional OE are more sensitive to issues of morality and fairness—not because they're choosing to be, but because that's how their nervous system responds to the world.

Researchers have found that gifted children consistently show higher levels of overexcitability than comparison groups, and that sensitivity, intensity, and strong moral sense are frequently reported characteristics (Silverman, 1994).

When It Becomes a Problem

Justice sensitivity isn't a "problem" when it motivates prosocial behavior and moral development. But it becomes problematic when it causes significant distress or interferes with functioning.

It's likely a problem when:

  • The child is chronically distressed—not just occasionally upset, but regularly overwhelmed by injustice
  • It interferes with daily functioning: school, friendships, family life
  • The child can't stop ruminating—bringing up the same injustice days or weeks later
  • The intensity causes emotional dysregulation: meltdowns, panic, inability to be soothed
  • The child feels personally responsible for fixing all the unfairness they encounter
  • The pattern is leading to anxiety, depression, or social isolation

It's probably not a problem when:

  • The child feels strongly but can move on within a reasonable time
  • They channel their sense of justice constructively—helping others, speaking up appropriately
  • They maintain friendships and functioning despite caring deeply
  • The intensity is proportional to the situation (even if it's stronger than peers')
  • The trait doesn't significantly impair their quality of life

Many children with high justice sensitivity are not in distress. They're thoughtful, empathetic, morally engaged kids who happen to feel things deeply. The goal isn't to make them care less—it's to help them care sustainably.

How to Help

If a child's justice sensitivity is causing real distress, here's what helps.

1. Validate Without Amplifying

The child needs to know their feelings are legitimate. Dismissing or minimizing ("It's not that big a deal") teaches them that their perceptions are wrong and their emotions are too much.

Instead: "You're right, that wasn't fair. I can see that really bothers you."

But validation has a limit. If you spend an hour discussing the injustice, analyzing it from every angle, and agreeing about how terrible it was—you may inadvertently reinforce the rumination.

Validate, then help them move forward. Acknowledge the feeling, then redirect attention toward the present or toward something they can do.

"You're right, that wasn't fair. I can see how much that bothers you. What do you think you'd like to do with the rest of your afternoon?"

2. Help Channel the Energy

Children with strong justice sensitivity often feel better when they can do something. The feeling of helplessness makes it worse. Action provides relief.

Ideas for constructive channeling:

  • Age-appropriate activism or volunteering: helping at a food bank, participating in a community cleanup, raising money for a cause
  • Small acts of fairness in their own sphere: including the excluded kid at lunch, standing up for a friend
  • Creative expression: writing, art, or music about justice themes
  • Helping peers who are treated unfairly: being a defender rather than a passive witness

The goal isn't to fix all the world's injustices—that's impossible and will only lead to frustration. The goal is to move from helpless distress to meaningful action, even if small.

"You're really upset about how homeless people are treated. What's one thing we could do about that—even a small thing?"

3. Widen the Lens

Talk about how adults navigate an unfair world. Your child isn't the first person to grapple with injustice—and they won't solve it all. Part of growing up is learning to hold difficult feelings without being overwhelmed.

Conversations might include:

  • You can't fix everything, but you can make a difference in some things. The question isn't "how do I solve all injustice" but "what injustice am I in a position to address?"
  • It's okay to feel sad about injustice without being able to solve it. Sadness is an appropriate response to unfairness. The sadness doesn't mean you've failed.
  • Part of growing up is learning to hold these feelings without being overwhelmed. This is a skill that develops over time—it doesn't mean caring less.

Share your own experiences. When have you felt upset about injustice? What did you do? How did you cope? Modeling is powerful.

4. Build Emotional Tolerance Gradually

The child needs to develop capacity to witness unfairness without being overwhelmed by it. This is uncomfortable, but necessary.

What this looks like:

  • Exposure to age-appropriate discussions of injustice, not avoidance. Shielding the child from all unfairness doesn't build resilience—it just delays the collision.
  • Processing difficult feelings with adult support. When they're upset, be present. Help them name the feeling, sit with it, and notice that it passes.
  • Recognizing that strong feelings pass. The distress is real, but it won't last forever. This is something children learn through experience.
  • Learning that they can survive the discomfort. Every time they feel the distress and come out the other side, they're building tolerance.

This isn't about suppressing feelings—it's about building the container to hold them.

5. Watch for Related Concerns

Justice sensitivity can coexist with or mask other issues:

  • Anxiety: Sometimes what looks like justice sensitivity is actually anxiety wearing a justice costume. The child is anxious about many things, and unfairness is one target.
  • Giftedness: If the child is intellectually gifted, they may need support beyond what typical programming provides—including support for their emotional intensity.
  • Depression: If the child seems hopeless about the state of the world, has lost interest in things they used to enjoy, or shows other signs of depression, professional evaluation is warranted.
  • Trauma: Children who have experienced unpredictable or unsafe environments may become hypervigilant to unfairness as a threat response.

If the pattern feels like more than temperament—if it's severe, spreading, or not responding to your efforts—professional evaluation can help clarify what's going on.

When to Seek Professional Help

Consider consultation with a child psychologist or therapist if:

  • The child is chronically distressed, not just occasionally upset
  • Functioning is impaired: school refusal, social withdrawal, family conflict
  • The child seems depressed or hopeless—especially about the state of the world
  • You're seeing anxiety symptoms alongside the justice sensitivity
  • The intensity hasn't decreased with age-appropriate support
  • You're not sure what you're dealing with

A professional can help determine whether what you're seeing is temperament that needs support, anxiety that needs treatment, or something else entirely.

The Gift Inside the Challenge

Justice sensitivity isn't something to fix. It's something to understand and support.

Children who feel injustice deeply often grow into adults who make the world better: activists, advocates, helpers, leaders. They're the ones who notice what others ignore, who speak up when it would be easier to stay silent, who refuse to accept "that's just how it is."

The goal isn't to make them care less. It's to help them care sustainably—to feel deeply without being overwhelmed, and to channel their strong moral compass toward constructive ends.

These children carry a burden, but they also carry a gift. With the right support, they can learn to bear the burden—and share the gift.

Learn More

References

Baumert, A., & Schmitt, M. (2016). Justice sensitivity. In C. Sabbagh & M. Schmitt (Eds.), Handbook of Social Justice Theory and Research (pp. 161-180). Springer.

Bondü, R., & Elsner, B. (2015). Justice sensitivity in childhood and adolescence. Social Development, 24(2), 420-441.

Bondü, R., Hannuschke, M., Elsner, B., & Gollwitzer, M. (2016). Inter-individual stabilization of justice sensitivity in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Research in Personality, 64, 11-20.

Bondü, R., Sahyazici-Knaak, F., & Esser, G. (2017). Long-term associations of justice sensitivity, rejection sensitivity, and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1446.

Dąbrowski, K., & Piechowski, M. M. (1977). Theory of levels of emotional development (Vols. 1 & 2). Oceanside, NY: Dabor Science.

Piechowski, M. M. (1979). Developmental potential. In N. Colangelo & R. T. Zaffran (Eds.), New voices in counseling the gifted (pp. 25-57). Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.

Schmitt, M., Baumert, A., Gollwitzer, M., & Maes, J. (2010). The Justice Sensitivity Inventory: Factorial validity, location in the personality facet space, demographic pattern, and normative data. Social Justice Research, 23, 211-238.

Schmitt, M., Gollwitzer, M., Maes, J., & Arbach, D. (2005). Justice sensitivity: Assessment and location in the personality space. European Journal of Psychological Assessment, 21(3), 202-211.

Silverman, L. K. (1994). The moral sensitivity of gifted children and the evolution of society. Roeper Review, 17(2), 110-116.

Strauß, S., & Bondü, R. (2022). Links between justice sensitivity and moral reasoning, moral emotions, and moral identity in middle childhood. Child Development, 93(3), 770-786.

Strauß, S., Bondü, R., & Roth, E. (2021). Justice sensitivity in middle childhood: A replication and extension of findings. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 610414.