As the school year resumes, I fondly recall a year-long project at a local school during which I and a colleague reinforced positive psychology character strengths for students, teachers, and staff. These traits were discovered through 4 years of worldwide research and can help all of us to thrive. One of these strengths is fairness. According to the Values in Action (VIA) Character Strength webpage, “Fairness is treating people justly, not letting your personal feelings bias your decisions about others. You want to give everyone a fair chance, and believe there should be equal opportunity for all, though you also realize that what is fair for one person might not be fair for another.” According to VIA, fairness is based on two types of reasoning to make judgments. “Justice reasoning emphasizes logic and weighing principles to determine moral rights and responsibilities. Care reasoning includes empathy and compassion; the ability to put yourself in somebody else’s shoes.”
No one likes to be treated unfairly. We are born with a sense of what is fair or unfair. In the classroom, students get upset if they feel the teacher is playing favorites or grading inequitably. At home, siblings cry out “That’s not fair!” when a brother or sister is getting preferential treatment. In sports, we all yell at the umpire when our team receives an unfair penalty. And in business, we want to see contracts granted through a bidding process based objectively upon value, price, and quality of work rather than bribes or favoritism.
The website Strengths Mining lists results from research on the practice of fairness that show it leads to benefits for individuals and their communities. Fair people are more likely to be concerned about and work towards creating a more just society (Turiel, 2002). They more often build strong relationships and are trusted by others (Kramer et al., 1996). Applying fairness is usually “more effective in resolving conflicts and…to find mutually beneficial solutions (Pruitt & Carnevale, 1993).” Frequently, fair men and women “stand up for what is right, even in the face of adversity (Kohlberg, 1981).” Fair individuals tend to “recognize their own biases and limitations (Gilliland & Dunn, 2003).” And, finally, studying character strengths and adolescent peer relationships, the strengths named as most important in a friend were “honesty, humor, kindness, and fairness (Wagner, 2018),”
The good news is that, according to VIA’s research, fairness can be developed and strengthened. Tayyab Rashid and Afroze Anjum offer practical suggestions in their book, 340 Ways to Use VIA Character Strengths. “(1) Encourage equal participation of everyone involved in a discussion or activity, especially those who feel left out. Foster a reputation as an includer; (2) Self-monitor to see whether you think about or treat people of other ethnicities and cultures stereotypically, Remind yourself that they are individuals with unique characteristics, opinions, and beliefs; (3) Write a letter to an editor or speak up on an important issue concerning social justice” using a positive tone and language that is firm, reasonable, and respectful to all concerned.
Many spiritual traditions encourage fairness. Relative to Christianity, the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 2:11, “For God shows no partiality.” James 2:1 says that “believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.” The Jewish faith emphasizes equal treatment in Leviticus 19:15, “You shall not render an unfair decision: do not favor the poor or show deference to the rich: judge your kinsman fairly.” Also, in Deuteronomy 16:19. “You shall not judge unfairly: you shall show no partiality, you shall take no bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the discerning.” Buddhism says a wise person “does not judge others arbitrarily but passes judgement impartially according to the truth.”
In closing, here are various reflections on fairness. President Dwight D. Eisenhower said that “although force can protect in an emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration, and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace.” Hanna Hasl-Ketchner, author of Seeking Fairness at Work, and 2025 Book Excellence Award winner, believes that “fairness is a leadership superpower.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr. wrote “Life’s Little Instruction Book” for his college-bound son. It was on the NY Times bestseller list for 2 years. Brown wrote that we should “live so that when your children think of fairness, caring, and integrity, they think of you.”
Mary Reitano is a retired counselor who applies Positive Psychology to life’s issues. Her reflections on character strengths are designed to help us to flourish. These principles emphasize wellness, thriving, and resilience in physical, emotional, cognitive, social, and spiritual areas of life. They apply to individuals, relationships, and communities.
