Perceived injustice intensifies trauma symptoms after October 7th attack

A new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem examined how thought-patterns associated with unfairness, known as perceived injustice, shape people's psychological responses to trauma. Conducted following the October 7th attack and during the subsequent war, the study revealed that as individuals viewed their suffering as more unjust and irreparable, they experienced more severe and persistent traumatic stress symptoms, even months later. The research highlights perceived injustice as a key factor influencing recovery and resilience in the aftermath of trauma.

A new longitudinal study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem conducted in the months following the October 7th Hamas attack and subsequent war, has found that thought-patterns that one's suffering is unjust and irreparable, known as perceived injustice, can intensify and sustain symptoms of trauma over time.

The research, 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, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, together with tSCAN lab graduate students Yuval Mor-Elzas and Sarit Kubichek, recruited almost 1,700 Israeli participants three months after the attack, with over 600 completing follow-up assessments six months later. Participants reported their levels of exposure and proximity to the traumatic events, traumatic symptoms, perceptions of injustice, and emotional distress symptoms, namely depression, anxiety, anger.

The results were striking. Across both time points, as individuals perceived and experienced their suffering as more unfair and irreparable, they reported higher levels of traumatic stress symptoms. 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, indicating that it represents a unique and powerful psychological factor in how people respond to and cope with chronic exposure to stress and trauma.

In the aftermath of trauma, we often focus on emotions like fear or sadness. Our findings demonstrate that a sense of unfairness can be just as damaging, if not more so. When people believe that what happened to them or to others was particularly unjust and cannot be amended, it can prolong suffering and make it harder to heal."

Dr. Gadi Gilam, Institute of Biomedical and Oral Research, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The study also revealed that anger levels increased significantly between January and July 2024, while the levels of traumatic symptoms, perceptions of injustice, depression, and anxiety, all remaining stable. According to Dr. Gilam, this stability underscores how perceived injustice may serve as a persistent cognitive prism, shaping how survivors interpret ongoing events and their emotional aftermath. Indeed, anger is the most common emotional response to injustice and might reflect an additional therapeutic target.

The authors hope their findings will inspire clinicians to incorporate injustice-related appraisals into mental health care, and lead to novel therapeutic interventions.