An unresolved issue in the literature is the extent to which unfair treatment based on race may have effects that are distinctive from other forms of unfair treatment. Because of the centrality of race in American society, the salience of racial identity can affect the appraisal processes of some individuals in ways that could lead race-attributed experiences to be more impactful because they are especially threatening to an individual’s sense of rights and opportunities (Pearlin et al. 2005). Some studies have found that perceptions of racial and non-racial discrimination are similarly related to health (Williams et al. 1999; Kessler et al. 1999). Recent neuroimaging research indicates that the experience of unfairness is associated with negative emotional responses and can activate regions of the brain involved with emotional regulation, suggesting that seeking justice and fairness may be a basic human impulse and its violation can trigger physiological consequences (Tabibnia et al. 2008). Accordingly, irrespective of attribution, the perception of unfair treatment may generate distress. For example, in the Whitehall study, perceived unfairness has been related to incident coronary events (De Vogli
