Interventions for the prevention of perceived unfairness in assessment contexts

Abstract

Based on a posttest-only control group design, we analyzed the efficiency of three group-level interventions (i.e., cognitive reframing, mood induction, and instrumental interventions) on the fairness perceptions of 198 participants in an assessment context. Each intervention was derived from a conceptual framework (Gilliland’s theory, Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy, Affect-as-Information Perspective), which was empirically validated. Although the results are not extremely encouraging, as between the three experimental groups and the control one (no intervention) there were not large statistical differences, our study still highlights that the assessors need to focus on the participants if they wish to increase their perceptions of fairness, not only over its formal elements. A series of limitations and future research directions are presented.