Procedural and distributive justice and life satisfaction in teenage students

Previous studies have shown evidence of a relationship between distributive and procedural justice and adolescent and child life satisfaction. This highlights the need to increase knowledge and create instruments to assess these constructs, particularly in the Latin American context. Thus, the study aimed (1) to explore the psychometric properties of procedural justice (PJ) and distributive justice (DJ) instruments in a sample of northwest Mexican students and (2) to assess the relationship between PJ, DJ, and life satisfaction (LS). The sample included 208 students (Mage = 13.5; SD = 0.92). Univariate statistics, Cronbach's alpha, McDonald's omega, and Spearman's rho correlation coefficients were calculated. Further, confirmatory factor analyses were tested for each construct, a covariance model and a structural equation model were tested. Instruments assessing PJ and DJ showed acceptable internal consistency and convergent and discriminant validity. The relationship between the factors indicated that the greater the perception of justice in school life, the better the students’ reported life satisfaction.