<p>How people perceive justice is informed not only by societal norms but also by the emotional and cognitive dispositions that shape their interpretations of wrongdoing. The present study explored how several personality characteristics and self-related tendencies, including empathy, self-compassion, forgiveness, openness to experience, and extraversion, are statistically associated with preferences for retributive and restorative justice. A total of 396 participants from Romania completed validated self-report instruments culturally adapted for this context. Using mediation and moderation analyses, six conceptual models were tested to examine both direct and indirect associations among individual traits and justice orientations. Results indicated that self-compassion statistically mediated the association between empathy and restorative justice orientation, whereas forgiveness emerged as a mediator in the relationship between openness and restorative orientation, as well as between empathy and lower endorsement of retributive attitudes. Extraversion was related to both justice orientations but did not significantly change the magnitude of other associations. Overall, the findings highlight the psychological dimensions underlying justice preferences and indicate that certain emotional and personality traits are consistently related to how individuals reason about justice-related dilemmas.</p>