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Belief in a Just World: Research Progress Over the Past Decade
Abstract
This paper reviews the literature on just world beliefs (BJW) and updates two previous reviews Lerner & Miller (1978), Furnham & Proctor (1989). Four broad areas of development were identified. First, critiques of self-report questionnaires and the development of new and psychometrically improved measures of BJW and related concepts were reviewed. Second, an extension of the studies of victim derogation and devaluation, particularly to those with AIDs and those who have experienced traumatic events such as rape, were discussed. Third, comparative recent research looking at BJW as a coping mechanism that may both buffer stress and facilitate achievement striving was reviewed. This focused on both the function and potential benefits of the BJW. Fourth an examination of cultural and demographic differences in the distribution of BJW was reviewed. There seems to be a movement from stressing the negative consequences of the BJW to understanding its psychological beneficial functions. It is concluded that the new direction in BJW research will ensure survival of research into the phenomenon for many years to come.
... For example, participants in their studies thought that morally questionable and intentional actions carried more risk of harm than moral and unintentional actions, respectively.. Notice that moral coherence in these studies involves judgments that good consequences will follow from good behaviors and vice versa. Previous work on "just world beliefs" yields similar findings (Furnham, 2003;Furnham & Procter, 1989;Lerner, 1980;Lerner & Miller, 1978). ...
... Related to needs for coherence are "just world beliefs". Many studies show that people believe the world is just, i.e., that good things happen to good people and bad things to bad people, despite ample evidence to the contrary (Furnham, 2003;Furnham & Procter, 1989;Lerner, 1980;Lerner & Miller, 1978). Beliefs of this sort may help individuals deal with a chaotic world by projecting control, stability, and orderliness onto it (Lerner & Miller, 1978). ...
... Typical investigations look into unfair attributions of blame or culpability after individuals have already suffered some misfortune. For instance, those with strong beliefs in a just world might be especially likely to attribute immoral behavior to an AIDs patient (Furnham, 2003). Our results may, in part, arise from just world beliefs applied before some misfortune occurs. ...
The COVID-19 pandemic created enormously difficult decisions for individuals trying to navigate both the risks of the pandemic and the demands of everyday life. Good decision making in such scenarios can have life and death consequences. For this reason, it is important to understand what drives risk assessments during a pandemic, and to investigate the ways that these assessments might deviate from ideal risk assessments. In a preregistered online study of U.S. residents (N = 841) using two blocks of vignettes about potential COVID exposure scenarios, we investigated the effects of moral judgment, importance, and intentionality on COVID infection risk assessments. Results demonstrate that risk judgments are sensitive to factors unrelated to the objective risks of infection. Specifically, activities that are morally justified are perceived as safer while those that might subject people to blame or culpability, are seen as riskier, even when holding objective risk fixed. Similarly, unintentional COVID exposures are judged as safer than intentional COVID exposures. While the effect sizes are small, these findings may have implications for public health and risk communications, particularly if public health officials are themselves subject to these biases.
... This phenomenon is characterized by an expectancy of a personal success probability inappropriately different from what the objective probability would warrant and referred to as an illusion of control (Langer et al., 1975). This cognitive bias has been theorized to be the result of a belief in a just world, similar to the concept of karma (Furnham, 2003) or the desire to not tempt fate (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974;Tykocinski, 2008). Research has identified the presence of magical thinking in laboratory experiments (Arad, 2014;Tykocinski, 2008) and has also been incorporated into theoretical behavioral models (Daley & Sadowski, 2017;Passanisi et al., 2017). ...
... n1 = 81, n2 = 71, P = 0.037 two-tailed). 18 This problem was the second hardest for participants-only 38% chose the dominant lottery. The mere fact that there is researched evidence for some phenomenon that might lead to a mistake might make participants more comfortable with their choice. ...
... Belief in a just world- Lerner (1965) suggested that people need to believe that the world is just and form beliefs accordingly (for a literature review, see Furnham, 2003). This is similar to a belief in karma (the law of moral causation in Hinduism and Buddhism). ...
This thesis presents findings from an online experiment aimed at evaluating individuals' attitudes towards their own cognitive biases that lead to objective mistakes. In a number of incentivized decision problems, a participant in the experiment might make a mistake and choose a dominated lottery (FOSD lottery), which is likely to result from a particular heuristic or cognitive bias. In this case, she is then confronted with her error under one of two treatments: a confrontation with an explanation only regarding the mistake or one with the addition of the supposed mechanism (bias). Following this explanation, her comfort level with her choice is measured. A bias that acted as a mechanism for the observed error could be considered advantageous (i.e., useful given alternative costs) or disadvantageous (i.e., mostly harmful) in other decision-making scenarios encountered during one's lifetime. Consequently, the perception of cognitive biases is subjective and may vary among decision makers, who may emphasize either the positive or negative aspects of such biases. The proposed methodology allows to determine whether these biases are perceived as useful rules of thumb, despite leading to a dominated lottery choice in that particular context, or unfavorable.Results revealed significant differences between the two treatments and across five different decision problems. Interestingly, the results showed that in only 60% of the cases, the participants felt uneasy about their mistakes. In the remaining instances, the participants demonstrated either indifference or a sense of comfort with their choice of a dominated lottery. The net effect of providing information on the cognitive biases that presumably lead to the mistakes, measured as the difference between treatments, revealed a negative perception of the mechanism behind the error in one problem, contentment with the mechanism for another, and no significant effect for the remaining biases.
... I worked on the topic for years (Furnham, 1991(Furnham, , 1992(Furnham, , 1995(Furnham, , 1998. I later published two reviews (Furnham, 2003;Furnham & Procter, 1989). I went to conferences in America and Germany and met many of the top scholars in the field. ...
... Imagine believing good actions were punished as opposed to rewarded: good people are assassinated, while dictators live to an old age. A major development at the turn of the millennium was to view the BJW as a healthy coping mechanism rather than being the manifestation of anti-social beliefs and prejudice (Dalbert, 2001;Furnham, 2003). There was a subtle movement from focusing on victim derogation to positive coping. ...
This paper offers a very personal perspective on the Social Justice research world, much of which is to be found in this journal. It is my contention that this research has become too inward looking and detached from other mainstream and important issues. I also highlight some areas that I think neglected such as the Problem of Evil and Stoicism as a coping mechanism for misfortune.
... Furthermore, despite having 20 items, α often fell below .70. So, more scales were developed (for a review, see Furnham, 2003), most of which use subsets of Rubin and Peplau's (1975) items (e.g., Steensma et al., 1994), measure dimensions within BJW (e.g., Furnham & Procter, 1989), use a 6-point Likert scale, and use indirect items. ...
... and Good correlates with optimism at r = .67. Much previous research on Just/BJW can be summarized as follows: Those who see the world as Just tend to work harder, act nicer, and blame victims, presumably because of the expectation that effort and kindness will be rewarded (e.g., Furnham, 2003;Furnham & Procter, 1989;Montada & Lerner, 1998). ...
Researchers have begun to explore a category of beliefs called primals which concern the basic character of the world as a whole. After discussing primals' general significance, this chapter recommends the Primals Inventory (PI-99) to those seeking to measure them. The PI-99 was created by the first effort to empirically map all major primals individuals hold. Item generation efforts included, for example, the analysis of 80,677 tweets, the 840 most-frequently used adjectives in modern English, and 385 of the most influential texts in world history. Factor analysis identified 26 latent dimensions, with most variance explained by three main primals-informally called the Big Three-the beliefs that the world is Safe (vs. dangerous), Enticing (vs. dull), and Alive (vs. mechanistic). In validation studies, PI-99 subscales were internally reliable (mean α = .86); stable across time (e.g., mean 19-month test-retest correlation for the Big Three was r (398) = .77); highly correlated with many behavioral patterns and wellbeing outcomes theoretically influenced by primals; and performed better than Big Five personality traits when predicting important variables like interpersonal trust and life satisfaction. This chapter will show how the PI-99 builds on a history of measuring similar beliefs, suggest ways to improve the PI-99, and make recommendations for those seeking to use the PI-99 in their research.
... That is, more severe injustices require stronger coping strategies to preserve BJW. For example, observers engage in more SV when victims suffer continually (Correia & Vala, 2003), severely (Burger, 1981;Robbennolt, 2000), are unambiguously innocent (Correia & Vala, 2003), or when injustice seems unlikely to be corrected (Hafer, further suggesting that in many cases, SV is driven by NBJW (see also Furnham, 2003). ...
... Taken together, these findings suggest that NBJW may be causally implicated in the way that perceiving injustice or considering one's own death can lead to SV, even when an NBJW-activating stimulus is not directly related to the victim being blamed. However, although this argument has been used to explain various SV effects (e.g., Callan et al., 2006;Callan et al., 2013;Correia & Vala, 2003;Dawtry et al., 2018;van den Bos & Maas, 2009; for reviews of literature implicating BJW or NBJW in SV, see Furnham, 2003 andHafer &B egue, 2005), NBJW has not typically been measured. Instead, NBJW has been hypothesized as a mechanism that transmits the effects of these manipulations to SV, with its role assumed because of the success of the manipulations. ...
According to just-world theory, people need to believe in a just world (NBJW). Theoretically, exposures to injustice and confronting mortality threaten this belief, prompting attempts to restore it. Past research has found that victimization of innocents and mortality salience prompts observers to engage in secondary victimization (e.g., blaming or derogating victims and underestimating their suffering). Theoretically, secondary victimization helps restore perceptions that the world is just. To test whether NBJW might explain these effects, three experiments conceptually replicated prior work relying on this process explanation. Although our goal was to test whether NBJW could be measured and might explain why secondary victimization occurs, we failed to find any substantive effects of exposure to injustice or mortality salience on secondary victimization.
... This finding has been corroborated by studies observing that tendencies to justify the system are associated with politically conservative beliefs and values (Jost, 2017). In addition, a study by Adrian Furnham (2003) showed that in contexts of social vulnerability, such as in Brazil, in which social and economic inequalities exist, BJW makes people believe that those who live on the margins of society have less because they deserve less. In this way, class differences are considered "legitimate", which makes BJW a way to justify injustice and naturalize experiences such as poverty and racism (Furnham, 2003;Gouveia et al., 2010). ...
... In addition, a study by Adrian Furnham (2003) showed that in contexts of social vulnerability, such as in Brazil, in which social and economic inequalities exist, BJW makes people believe that those who live on the margins of society have less because they deserve less. In this way, class differences are considered "legitimate", which makes BJW a way to justify injustice and naturalize experiences such as poverty and racism (Furnham, 2003;Gouveia et al., 2010). ...
This research aimed to study left-wing and right-wing groups' political polarization and their Social Representations (SR) of each other, as well as to investigate the experience of political violence and the belief in a just world (BJW). An online survey was conducted. The left-wing groups used the terms equality, empathy, and justice to describe themselves, while the right-wing groups used freedom, conservatism, and justice. Both groups used negative terms to describe their opponents; left-wingers described right-wingers as selfish, ignorant, and intolerant and right-wingers described left-wingers as corrupt, intolerant, and extremist. Regarding violence , 72% stated that they knew someone who had suffered political violence in the last two years, especially through social media. As for the means on the BJW scale, left-wingers had a lower mean than right-wingers. There are significant differences in SRs and positions between the groups, which may be at the core of violence.
Resumen
El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar la polarización política y las Representaciones Sociales (RS) de los grupos de derecha e izquierda entre sí, además de verificar la experiencia de la violencia política y la creencia en un mundo justo (CMJ). Se realizó una encuesta en línea. Los grupos de izquierda usaron los términos igualdad, empatía y justicia para describirse a sí mismos, mientras que los grupos de derecha usaron libertad, conservadurismo y justicia. Los dos grupos usaron téminos negativos para describir los opuestos; los de izquierda describieron a la derecha como egoísta, ignorante e intolerante, y los de derecha describieron a la izquierda como corrupta, intolerante y extremista. Sobre la violencia, 72 % dijo conocer a alguien que sufrió violencia política en los últimos 2 años, principalmente en las redes sociales. Y sobre a las medias en la escala CMJ, los de la izquierda tuvieron un promedio más bajo que los de la derecha. Hay diferencias importantes en RS y posiciones entre grupos, que pueden estar en el centro de la violencia.
... A strong BJW is considered to serve as a coping mechanism, allowing people to dissolve anxiety that would otherwise arise as a result of unfair treatment of themselves or others. BJW contributes to psychological well-being and long-term commitment to personal goals because it leads people to see both positive and negative treatment as just and deserved (for reviews, see Bartholomaeus & Strelan, 2019;Furnham, 2003;Hafer & Sutton, 2016). This literature emphasizes that BJW is descriptive rather than prescriptive, as it refers to one's view of the social world as just and fair, not to one's urge for the restoration of justice. ...
In our multinational study, we tested the hypothesis that belief in a just world (BJW) enhances political trust by strengthening perceptions of political procedural justice. Based on data from the ninth round of the European Social Survey and various country-ranking indices, we found a positive relationship between BJW and political trust, with perceived procedural justice serving as an important mediator in this relationship. More importantly, our multilevel analysis indicated that the actual quality of procedural justice moderates this relationship in a way that BJW enhances perceived procedural justice and political trust indirectly to a greater extent in countries with more severe problems with political procedural justice. The results show that a negative context serves as a catalyzer for motivated perceptions, as BJW pushes perceptions in the direction of justice even more strongly in an unjust context, which, in turn, contributes to gratuitous political trust.
... Despite typically being associated with greater punitiveness in non-sexual victimization offenses (Devine & Caughlin, 2014;Cramer et al., 2013;Jones et al., 2015), RWA was associated with higher defendant believability in the present study. This relationship can be attributed to RWA being associated with endorsement of just world (Furnham, 2003). The case used within the present study presented the complainant as a sexually promiscuous individual (e.g., being a single parent at the age of 16, I did some things I was not proud of in the past, and initially agreeing to engage in sex work for money after persuasion from the defendant). ...
The present study examined whether country of residence, sex trafficking attitudes, complainant gender, juror gender, and right-wing authoritarianism influenced juror decision-making within a sex trafficking case. Jury-eligible participants from the United States and United Kingdom participated in an online juror experiment in which an independent groups design was used to manipulate the complainant's
gender. Participants completed the Juror Decision Scale, the Sex Trafficking Attitudes Scale, and the Right-Wing Authoritarianism scale. Sex trafficking attitudes predicted believability of both the defendant and complainant. Greater negative beliefs about victims predicted greater defendant believability and lower complainant believability. U.S. jurors reported greater believability of both the complainant and defendant, and right-wing authoritarianism was associated with greater defendant believability. However, none of the other factors, including complainant and juror gender, predicted participants' verdicts. The findings suggest juror verdicts in sex trafficking cases may be less influenced by extra-legal factors,
although further research is needed, especially with a more ambiguous case.
This is one of few cross-cultural comparison studies in the area of jury decision-making, and specifically regarding sex trafficking cases. The findings indicated that U.S. participants held more problematic attitudes about sex trafficking than their U.K. counterparts, although all participants held problematic attitudes about sex trafficking. However, those attitudes did not affect verdict formation about either a male or female complainant. Participants who were more knowledgeable
about sex trafficking reported greater complainant believability, suggesting that educational interventions may provide greater support toward victims in court.
... This belief is deemed enormously robust and functional for psychological health. Research confirms that people go out of their way to explain negative events according to this belief system, even if it means blaming themselves and others for things that were not under their control (Furnham, 2003). Earning below the poverty line despite hard work, being hindered in getting ahead in society would violate this belief system, and people would consequently try to protect it. ...
Precarity at work is a multifaceted phenomenon, which includes economic vulnerability, job insecurity, few social benefits, and low job quality. There is a substantial amount of work and organizational psychological research on the effects of low job quality and job insecurity, but the effect of economic vulnerability has gained little attention and is rarely included. We define economic vulnerability as risks to workers’ individual financial self-sufficiency and differentiate between objective (e.g., low labor income) and subjective indicators (e.g., perceived financial strain). Based on a conceptual framework of economic vulnerability, we discuss different theoretical perspectives on its psychological impact. We then provide an overview of the state of research on the consequences of economic vulnerability on workers’ health and well-being as well as on (working) life in general. We conclude with recommendations for future research on precarity and economic vulnerability, and a discussion of intervention strategies for organizations and policy makers. Overall, the chapter highlights the relevance of the concept of economic vulnerability within precarity of work research and the crucial importance of individual financial self-sufficiency for a healthy, meaningful, and productive (working) life.
... Moreover, studies that measured personal BJW and general BJW separately found that subjective well-being was more strongly correlated with personal BJW than with general BJW. Several reviews of these findings are available (Bartholomaeus & Strelan, 2019;Correia et al., 2009a;Dalbert, 1998Dalbert, , 1999Dalbert, , 2001Dalbert & Donat, 2015;Donat et al., 2016;Furnham, 2003;Hafer & Sutton, 2016). The research we report in the present paper contributes to this literature. ...
Belief in a just world (BJW) has been assumed to promote subjective well-being. The results of cross-sectional studies have been consistent with this assumption but inconclusive about the causal origins of the correlations. Correia et al. (2009a) experimentally tested the original hypothesis (BJW causes subjective well-being) against the alternative hypothesis (subjective well-being causes BJW) and found support for both. Our Study 1 comprised four experiments that repeated and extended Correia et al. (2009a) experiments and fully replicated their findings. Study 2 reanalyzed a longitudinal data set regarding the interrelationships of several variants of BJW and subjective well-being. Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed very weak support for the original hypothesis and a little but not much more support for the alternative hypothesis. Taken together, the findings from both studies are consistent with Correia et al. (2009a) findings and suggest that the causal relationship between BJW and SWB is bidirectional in nature.
... Bunun neticesinde iyilik, mutluluk, güzellik, erdem ve başarının tıpkı sefalet, çirkinlik, günah, aşağılık ve ıstırap gibi birbirine sebep-sonuç ilişkileriyle bağlı olduğuna inanma eğilimi gösterilmektedir (Lerner, 1980, s. 12-14). Yapılan araştırma bulguları da ilginç bir şekilde, yoksullar (Furnham & Gunter, 1984;Harper, Wagstaff, Newton, & Harrison, 1990), işsizler (Reichle, Schneider, & Montada, 1998), siyahiler (Myrdal, 1944), AIDS hastaları (Connors & Heaven, 1990), yaşlı insanlar (Callan, Dawtry, & Olson, 2012;Bègue & Bastounis, 2003), kanser hastaları (Braman & Lambert, 2001), engelliler (Goffman, 1963) ve cinsel saldırı mağdurları (Furnham, 2003;Hafer & Be`gue, 2005) gibi dezavantajlı grupların insanlar tarafından bazen bir şekilde daha aşağı olduğuna inanma ve talihsizliğin kurbanlarını kendi kaderleri yüzünden suçlama eğiliminde olduklarını göstermektedir (Loewenthal, 2017, s. 156). ...
... Alguns estudos buscaram avaliar, empiricamente, o efeito da crença do mundo justo no nível de culpabilização da vítima de estupro, considerando a existência de uma relação direta entre tais variáveis. De fato, é possível encontrar evidências que dão suporte para essa relação (Furnham, 2003;Strömwall et al., 2013;Yamawaki, 2009). No contexto brasileiro, por exemplo, Barbosa (2017) observou que quanto maior a crença no mundo justo, maior a percepção da vítima como responsável pelo estupro. ...
A incidência de relacionamentos abusivos que resultam em feminicídios é alarmante no Brasil. Apesar disso, é recorrente a culpabilização das mulheres que estão nesse tipo de relacionamento. Esse processo de julgamento de uma vítima de violência pode ser compreendido à luz da Teoria do Mundo Justo. Essa teoria postula que as pessoas têm o que merecem e merecem o que têm, de modo a avaliar os acontecimentos com base em razões boas e compreensíveis. Nessa perspectiva, o objetivo da presente pesquisa foi investigar a influência das crenças no mundo justo (CMJ) na culpabilização das vítimas que permanecem, em decorrência de diferentes tipos de dependência, dentro de um relacionamento abusivo. Participaram 243 pessoas que responderam à Escala Global de CMJ, avaliaram a responsabilidade de uma vítima de feminicídio e informaram seus dados sociodemográficos. Os participantes eram distribuídos em 3 condições experimentais distintas (tipo de dependência): i) financeira; ii) afetiva; iii) saída da relação. Verificou-se que vítimas que permanecem em uma relação por uma dependência emocional são mais responsabilizadas que vítimas com dependência financeira e do que vítimas que saíram da relação abusiva (F(2,240)=15,15, p0,001, η²p = 0,11). Além disso, identificou-se que a CMJ exerceu um efeito no índice de responsabilização de todos os tipos de vítimas, indicando a relevância do construto na compreensão dos processos de responsabilização de mulheres em relacionamentos abusivos. Cabe citar que a CMJ têm sido um preditor da culpabilização da vítima. Os achados da presente pesquisa se somam a esse conjunto de estudos anteriores ao apresentar evidências do seu poder preditivos para a análise da permanência em relações abusivas
... Variation in primal world beliefs has received surprisingly little attention from psychologists, with the majority of research to date focusing on two specific beliefs-that the world is just (e.g., Benabou & Tirole, 2006;Furnham, 2003;Lerner, 1980;Lipkus, 1991) and dangerous (e.g., Altemeyer, 1981Altemeyer, , 1988Duckitt, 2001;Duckitt & Sibley, 2009). However, recent work has more fully mapped primals and their relationships with each other. ...
Objectives:
We tested whether generalized beliefs that the world is safe, abundant, pleasurable, and progressing (termed "primal world beliefs") are associated with several objective measures of privilege.
Methods:
Three studies (N = 16,547) tested multiple relationships between indicators of privilege-including socioeconomic status, health, sex, and neighborhood safety-and relevant world beliefs, as well as researchers and laypeople's expectations of these relationships. Samples were mostly from the USA and included general population samples (Study 2) as well as focused samples of academic researchers (Study 1) and people who had experienced serious illness or trauma (Study 3).
Results:
Studies 1-2 found mostly negligible relationships between world beliefs and indicators of privilege, which were invariably lower than researcher predictions (e.g., instead of the expected r = 0.33, neighborhood affluence correlated with Abundant world belief at r = 0.01). Study 3 found that people who had experienced serious illness (cancer, cystic fibrosis) only showed modest differences in beliefs from controls.
Conclusions:
While results do not preclude that some individuals' beliefs were meaningfully affected by life events, they imply that such changes are smaller or less uniform than widely believed and that knowing a person's demographic background may tell us relatively little about their beliefs (and vice versa).
... The partitioning of blame and bearing of responsibility regularly hinges on considerations of what the person could have done to avoid victimization and how much we think the person was able to control the events. This "belief in a just world" [63,64,65] influences individual's need to be able to explain negative occurrences in the world. ...
Juries are a core component of the criminal justice system. Although marked with a history of prejudice, segmentation, and discrimination, the framework of the 6th Amendment calls for impartiality among a jury of peers who are selected for the pursuit of justice. Influencing jury decision-making is the perception of witnesses, defendants, and victims. Specific to this work, the characterization of the victim is often a function of in-group bias in which the jury, operating collectively, decides if it is to cognitively distance itself from the victim based on assigned attributes. The group's agreement with the assignment of negative attributes is especially apparent when the victim is a Black male. In the case of this analysis, teenage murder victim Jordan Davis was described as a man and characterized as an adult aggressor and deserving of blame. The analysis is integrative and considers this case to elaborate on the cognitive theories, system behavior, and cultural norms that frame the perceptive process of jurors. Also reflected are the implications of biased decision-making processes, as well as suggestions for ways to mitigate them.
... Belief in a just world refers to people's motivation to believe that they live in a just and fair world where people usually get what they want (Furnham, 2003). Dalbert (2002) argues that belief in a just world is a personal resource that can help individuals cope with unjust situations, buffer against destructive emotions, and maintain their psychological wellbeing. ...
Stressful childhood environments influence mental health and well-being in adults and adolescents, but there is relatively limited evidence on how environmental unpredictability and harshness in early life are associated with adolescent depression. The current study investigated the relationship between two important dimensions of stressful childhood environment (i.e., childhood environmental unpredictability and harshness) and adolescent depression, as well as the mediating roles of perceived discrimination and belief in a just world in this relationship by a large sample survey of Chinese adolescents (N = 3,553, Mage = 13.48, SDage = 1.01; 53.36% female). Results showed that childhood unpredictability and harshness were both positively associated with adolescent depression. The serial mediation analysis suggested that adolescents with the higher experience of stressful childhood environments perceived more discrimination, which was related to lower belief in a just world and subsequently associated with higher adolescent depression. While the girls reported higher depression than boys, the relationship between stressful childhood environments and depression did not vary between girls and boys. This study contributes to research on the relationship between stressful childhood environments and mental health outcomes for adolescents and further provides an insight into the psychological mechanism underlying this relationship.
... For example, explaining class inequality between groups in terms of the biological superiority of high-class groups over low-class groups might maintain status quo class disparities while fostering negative attitudes towards low-class individuals. Consistent with this possibility, higher-class individuals tend to endorse biological essentialist views of class differences and report greater commitments to the status quo (i.e., belief in a just world; Furnham, 2003) compared to lower-class individuals (Kraus & Keltner, 2013). ...
People with biological essentialist beliefs about social groups also tend to endorse biased beliefs about individuals in those groups, including intensified emphasis on the group, stereotypes, and prejudices. These correlations could be due to biological essentialism causing bias, and some experimental studies support this causal direction. Given this prior work, we expected to find that biological essentialism would lead to increased bias compared with a control condition and set out to extend this prior work in a new direction (regarding "value-based" essentialism). But although the manipulation affected essentialist beliefs and essentialist beliefs were correlated with group emphasis (Study 1), stereotyping (Studies 2, 3a, 3b, and 3c), prejudice (Studies 3a), there was no evidence that biological essentialism caused these outcomes (NTotal = 1,903). Given these findings, our initial research question became moot. We thus focus on reexamining the relationship between essentialism and bias.
... Religious ideas, in particular, have furthermore fostered communion, orderly coexistence, and even cooperation among individuals, benefiting both individuals as well as entire groups (e.g., Bloom, 2012;Dow, 2006;Graham & Haidt, 2010;Johnson & Fowler, 2011;Koenig et al., 1999;MacIntyre, 2004;Peoples & Marlowe, 2012). Indeed, there are numerous unwarranted-or even blatantly false-beliefs that either have no (immediate and thus likely detectable) detrimental consequences or even lead to positive consequences (for placebo effects, see Kaptchuk et al., 2010;Kennedy & Taddonio, 1976;Price et al., 2008; for magical thinking, see Subbotsky, 2004; for belief in a just world, see Dalbert, 2009;Furnham, 2003), which fosters the survival of such beliefs. ...
One of the essential insights from psychological research is that people's information processing is often biased. By now, a number of different biases have been identified and empirically demonstrated. Unfortunately, however, these biases have often been examined in separate lines of research, thereby precluding the recognition of shared principles. Here we argue that several-so far mostly unrelated-biases (e.g., bias blind spot, hostile media bias, egocentric/ethnocentric bias, outcome bias) can be traced back to the combination of a fundamental prior belief and humans' tendency toward belief-consistent information processing. What varies between different biases is essentially the specific belief that guides information processing. More importantly, we propose that different biases even share the same underlying belief and differ only in the specific outcome of information processing that is assessed (i.e., the dependent variable), thus tapping into different manifestations of the same latent information processing. In other words, we propose for discussion a model that suffices to explain several different biases. We thereby suggest a more parsimonious approach compared with current theoretical explanations of these biases. We also generate novel hypotheses that follow directly from the integrative nature of our perspective.
... BJW serves as a guiding principle, suggesting that it helps migrant populations cope with social adaptation events by increasing feelings of confidence, control, and hope (Dzuka and Dalbert, 2010). Indeed, as a form of positive belief, BJW encourages people to see their social environment as more stable and controllable, which in turn may lower their perceptions of threat and increase their adaptability to urban groups and society (Dalbert, 1999;Furnham, 2003;Ramos et al., 2014). Studies have shown that people with high BJW are more capable of coping with negative events in their lives. ...
Given the increase in the number of internal migrant children, the mental health problems (e.g., loneliness) of this population have received widespread attention. Relative deprivation is considered to be related to migrant children’s loneliness. However, the underlying mechanisms of this relationship remain unclear. Therefore, the present study tested the possible mediating role of self-esteem and the moderating role of belief in a just world in the association between relative deprivation and loneliness of migrant children. A total of 1,261 Chinese rural-to-urban migrant children (10–15 years old, Mage = 12.34 years, SD = 1.67; 52.0% males, 48.0% females; 23.55% fourth grade students, 16.49% fifth grade students, 19.59% sixth grade students, 15.54% seventh grade students, 13.80% eighth grade students, and 10.86% ninth grade students) were recruited to complete measures of relative deprivation, self-esteem, belief in a just world, loneliness, and demographic variables. Relative deprivation was significantly and positively correlated with migrant children’s loneliness, and this connection could be mediated by self-esteem. Moreover, the first part of the indirect effect of self-esteem on this link was moderated by belief in a just world. These effects were stronger for migrant children with higher levels of belief in a just world. This study reveals the potential mechanisms of relative deprivation affecting loneliness, while also providing insights into how to better help migrant children alleviate loneliness and improve their mental health.
... However, it is a concept with an important function to appease conflicts within the human psyche about the world people may feel they need to live in versus the state of the world that could exist as being rife with injustices and inequalities. Studies have shown that those with high levels of BJW appear to cope better when witnessing injustice or extreme misfortune (Furnham, 2003;Sutton & Douglas, 2005;Toews et al., 2019). ...
Belief in a Just World (BJW) can be categorised into domains of how people view the fairness of their immediate social worlds (Personal Belief in a Just World–PBJW) and the wider world (General Belief in a Just World–GBJW). We conducted two studies with 179 (Study 1) and 364 (Study 2) participants to examine differential relationships that PBJW and GBJW could have in directly predicting mental wellbeing and depression and indirectly via three mediators of perceived control, optimism, and gratitude. Path analyses examined how well data from each study fit 13 different models. Models 1 to 4 tested whether PBJW directly and indirectly via the three mediators predicted wellbeing (Model 1) and depression (Model 3) and if GBJW likewise directly and indirectly predicted wellbeing (Model 2) and depression (Model 4). These four models had the best supported statistical fit for either Study 1 or 2 relative to other models. In both studies when explaining the effect of PBJW on wellbeing and depression, perceived control was the strongest mediator, followed by optimism, and then gratitude. When examining the effect of GBJW on wellbeing and depression, only perceived control and optimism were significant mediators. These studies affirm the need to assess GBJW and PBJW as separate phenomena, rather than combining these constructs or omitting PBJW, as is sometimes done.
... For people who have had the privilege of growing up in lowviolence areas, there may be a distorted cognition that involvement in violence happens to those who have flawed characters, or at the least, who have made unwise choices, consistent with the belief in a just world (c.f. Furnham, 2003). Taking a character strengths approach to violence prevention may perpetuate the pervasive but unsupported popular belief that violence perpetration is caused primarily by internal characteristics. ...
Character strengths research has the potential to imply that youth have character deficits or moral failings that cause their problematic behavior. This ignores the impact of context, especially for youth who are members of historically marginalized groups in under resourced communities. On the other hand, framing youth who are members of underrepresented groups solely as products of oppression undermines their agency and the power of collective action. It may be possible to promote character development in a contextually relevant, culturally grounded way through a transdisciplinary, participatory action approach. We engaged in this work in three phases: goal specification; logic model identification; and intervention development and testing. Lessons learned included the need for intensive trust-building and identifying the limitations in scope and capacity. Overall, a transdisciplinary, participatory action approach is a promising strategy to overcome the existing bias in virtue development research and to leverage positive psychology to address health disparities.
... The notion of karma has substantial conceptual overlap with several other related concepts in the psychological literature. Of particular relevance is the just world theory, which asserts that people have a general need to believe that the world is a fair place where people get what they deserve (Lerner & Miller, 1978;Furnham, 2003). This belief is thought to help people view the world as orderly and predictable, which could in turn enable the pursuit of long-term goals (Hafer, 2000). ...
Believers of karma believe in ethical causation where good and bad outcomes can be traced to past moral and immoral acts. Karmic belief may have important interpersonal consequences. We investigated whether American Christians expect more trustworthiness from (and are more likely to trust) interaction partners who believe in karma. We conducted an incentivized study of the trust game where interaction partners had different beliefs in karma and God. Participants expected more trustworthiness from (and were more likely to trust) karma believers. Expectations did not match actual behavior: karmic belief was not associated with actual trustworthiness. These findings suggest that people may use others’ karmic belief as a cue to predict their trustworthiness but would err when doing so.
... Just-world beliefs could play a role in the influence of social support on goal pursuit. Just-world beliefs refer to a view of justice that individuals hold about whether the real world is just or not, stemming from their intuitive judgments about justice and their social cognitive tendency to trust in justness (Lerner, 1980;Furnham, 2003;Bartholomaeus and Strelan, 2019). Depending on the object to which just-world beliefs are directed, they can be divided into general justworld beliefs and personal just-world beliefs. ...
Based on the self-determination theory, this study examined the mechanisms underlying the influence of social support on goal pursuit among college students and focused on the mediating role played by just-world beliefs. The Aspiration Index Scale, Just-World Beliefs Scale, and Perceived Social Support Scale were used to assess relationships among 424 college students’ just-world beliefs, social support, and goal pursuit; additionally, the underlying mechanisms of those relationships were examined. The results showed that (1) there was a significant positive correlation between social support, just-world beliefs, and goal pursuit; (2) social support had a significant positive influence on goal pursuit; (3) just-world beliefs played a fully mediating role in the influence of social support on goal pursuit, with a mediating effect of 36.38%; and (4) personal just-world beliefs rather than general just-world beliefs fully mediated the effect of social support on goal pursuit, with a mediating effect of 39.00%. In conclusion, we found that for Chinese college students, social support has a significant positive effect on goal pursuit, and personal just-world beliefs play a fully mediating role in the effect of social support on goal pursuit.
... Participants indicated their level of agreement with each statement (e.g., "People usually receive the outcomes that they deserve") on a 7-point scale (1 = strongly disagree, 7 = strongly agree). This scale was included as a possible additional correlate, as some previous research has linked just-world beliefs with judgments of blame, and victim-blame in particular (Furnham, 2003;Whatley & Riggio, 1993). Reliability was high across all eight items (α = .97), ...
Though the study of blame is far from new, little to no research has systematically investigated how perpetrator-blame and victim-blame influence one another. The current series of studies used correlational (Study 1), experimental (Studies 2 and 3), and mediational (Studies 3A and 3B) designs to address this issue. Results indicated that when it comes to perpetrators and victims, blame is zero-sum. Across a diverse set of crimes of varying severity, the more that a victim is seen as playing a causal role in a crime, the less blame is assigned to the perpetrator. In addition, when victim-culpability is experimentally manipulated, having a more causally responsible victim actually mitigates blame for the perpetrator, and this discounting of perpetrator-blame occurs because the victim is seen as more deserving of what happened. Results are discussed in terms of real-world implications.
... Failure is the result of lack of effort, not being unlucky. By some, the BJW is considered the core of our hopes in this world, for others it is a delusion (see Furnham, 2003 for a discussion of this issue). ...
The “belief in a just world” and the related “justice motive” can be construed as a fundamental drive‐in people's life. Paradoxically this “justice motive” may motivate people to be unfair by assigning blame to objectively innocent victims. In two experimental studies, we address the possibility that inducing cognitive dissonance can reduce the assigning of blame to innocent victims. Study 1 (n = 71) consisted of a 2 × 2 design in which participants were randomly assigned to two types of induction (Dissonance induction/Awareness Induction Only condition) and two victims' background conditions (innocent victim v non‐innocent victim). In Study 2 (n = 171) 3 types of induction were compared (Dissonance Induction/Awareness Induction/Control condition) with all victims' scenarios considering them innocent. Study 1 showed that innocent victims were less negatively evaluated in the Dissonance Induction condition compared to the Awareness Only Induction condition; non‐innocent victims were not differently evaluated in both conditions. Study 2 showed that innocent victims were less negatively evaluated in the Dissonance Induction condition compared to the Awareness Induction condition and the Control condition. Overall, findings suggest that cognitive dissonance induction can be an effective mechanism to reduce assigning blame to innocent victims.
ABSTRACT
This study examined relations between political ideology, religiosity, individual characteristics, personal belief in a just world, and attitudes towards asexuals’ parenting rights, aiming to understand the complex roots of sexual prejudice better. An exploratory cross-sectional study was conducted via an online survey in Greece between May 2 and 30 July 2021. Two hundred and four participants were recruited for this study. A between-subject, correlational design was employed. Bivariate correlation was generated to explore the associations between variables of interest. Next, a bootstrapping analysis for simple mediation models was conducted. Also, a multiple regression model was employed to predict attitudes towards asexuals’ parenting rights from the study measures. This study suggests that religious opposition to asexuals’ parenting rights is attributable, at least in part, to political ideology. In addition, gender is also a significant factor influencing the formation of attitudes towards asexuals’ parenting rights. In light of the current debates regarding expanding sexual and gender minority rights in several countries, this study presents a timely investigation into the underpinnings of opposition to asexuals’ parenting rights. Research data in this scarcely researched field may support the efforts of advocacy groups to promote social justice.
Objective
To understand the challenges that have impeded Asian American parents' critical responses toward racism, we looked at interpretive contexts, as well as the recent immigration contexts and their impacts on intergenerational relationships.
Background
Asian Americans are the fastest growing diverse group in the United States. The advent of COVID‐19 resulted in a dramatic increase of anti‐Asian hate crimes.
Methods
We reviewed research on Asian American parents' racialized experiences and the challenges they face when raising children to respond to racism. With a contextual perspective, we highlighted three ideological concepts that have shaped the interpretive context for Asian American parents' responses to racism, including the model minority myth, the just‐world view, and the cultural maintenance model. We also looked at how recent waves of immigration may have compounded intergenerational gaps in many Asian American families, with both developmental and acculturational differences between generations.
Results and Conclusion
Understanding these contexts provides insights into how to best support Asian American parents as they communicate with their children on complicated topics. These support can help faciliate these parents' ability to remain grounded in their ethnic‐racial group, while uniting with other diverse groups in dismantling racism.
Implications
Informational and sociocultural resources are needed to help Asian American parents develop racial literacy and seek changes. We encourage practitioners to develop cultural competency and deepen their understanding of immigrant families' developmental and acculturational needs.
Striving for achievement is in the nature of every individual, because with each new achievement, whether easier or more difficult, the individual prepares for new challenges in life. At the same time, in order to achieve a certain achievement, the individual also believes that he will receive an appropriate reward for his work, i.e. he believes in the justice of the society that surrounds him. The aim of this research was to determine whether there is a connection between the pursuit of achievement and belief in a just world. 246 respondents, student population from Mostar, Zenica and Bihać participated in the research. The questionnaires used in this research were: the scale of striving for achievement and the scale of belief in a just world, along with certain questions of a sociodemographic nature. The obtained results showed that there is a statistically significant correlation between striving for achievement and belief in a just world, but it is very weak. Then, the findings show us that there is a statistically significant difference in the striving for achievement with regard to gender. Namely, male respondents (M= 34.43) showed a greater desire for achievement than female respondents (M=29.76). In contrast to the striving for achievement, there is no statistically significant difference with regard to gender in the belief in a just world scale (0.643>0.05). Finally, the results were obtained that showed that there is no statistically significant difference in the striving for achievement (0.606>0.05) and belief in a just world (0.648) with regard to the most common assessment of students.
Bu çalışmada büyüklenmeci narsisizm, ebeveynleşme, kontrol odağı ve benlik saygısı arasındaki ilişkilerin değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Ayrıca büyüklenmeci narsisizm ile ebeveynleşme arasında kontrol odağı ve benlik saygısının aracı etkisini incelemek çalışmanın diğer amacını oluşturmaktadır. Çalışmanın örneklemini 18-35 (Ort.=21.42, S=2.78) yaş arasında yer alan 292’si (% 70.5) kadın, 122’si (%29.5) erkek toplamda 414 kişi oluşturmaktadır. Veri toplamak amacıyla, Beş Faktör Narsisizm Envanteri-Kısa Form, Ebeveynleşme Envanteri, Kontrol Odağı Ölçeği ve Rosenberg Benlik Saygısı Ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Çalışma kapsamında değişkenler arasındaki ilişkiler korelasyon analizleri ile aracı değişken analizleri ise çoklu aracılı model testi (Bootstrap) ile incelenmiştir. Çalışmada elde edilen sonuçlara göre büyüklenmeci narsisizm ile ebeveynleşme, kişisel kontrol ve benlik saygısı arasında pozitif yönde anlamlı ilişkiler söz konusudur. Öte yandan, büyüklenmeci narsisizm ve ebeveynleşme arasındaki ilişkide, benlik saygısının tam aracılık etkisinin olduğu görülmüştür. Bu bakımdan ebeveynleşme deneyimleyen bireylerin benlik saygılarının daha yüksek olduğu ve böylece büyüklenmeci narsisizm geliştirdikleri söylenebilir. Çalışmada elde edilen bulgular ebeveynleşme deneyimlerinin bireylerin kişilik özelliklerini nasıl etkilediğinin anlaşılması açısından önemlidir.
Background
Selfie-related injury has become a public health concern amid the near ubiquitous use of smartphones and social media apps. Of particular concern are selfie-related deaths at aquatic locations; areas often frequented because of their photogenic allure. Unfortunately, such places exhibit hazards inherent with their environment.
Objective
This study aimed to ascertain current evidence regarding selfie-related injuries and recommended risk treatment measures in the academic literature as well as how selfie-related injuries and deaths were being reported by the media, allowing us to identify key challenges facing land managers and public health practitioners in mitigating selfie-related injuries and deaths.
Methods
Between October and December 2022, we performed a narrative review of peer-reviewed literature published since January 2011. Literature was screened to identify causal factors implicated in selfie-related deaths and injuries, as well as risk treatments recommended. Furthermore, we used an environmental scan methodology to search for media reports of selfie-related injuries and deaths at aquatic locations in Australia and the United States. Individual cases of selfie-related aquatic injuries and deaths sourced from news reports were analyzed to assess epidemiological characteristics, and a thematic content analysis was conducted to identify key themes of news reporting on selfie-related deaths and injuries.
Results
In total, 5 peer-reviewed studies were included. Four studies identified falls from height as the most common injury mechanism in selfie incidents. Drowning was the second most common cause of death. Recommended risk treatments were limited but included the adoption of “no selfie zones,” physical barriers, signage, and provision of information on dangerous locations to social media users. In total, 12 cases were identified from media reports (4 injuries and 8 fatalities; 7 in Australia and 5 in the United States). The mean age of the reported victims was 22.1 (SD 6.93) years with victims more likely to be female tourists. Content analysis revealed 3 key themes from media reports: “blame,” “warning,” and “prevention and education.” Few media reports (n=8) provided safety recommendations.
Conclusions
The selfie-related incident phenomenon should be viewed as a public health problem that requires a public health risk communication response. To date, little attention has been paid to averting selfie-related incidents through behavior change methodologies or direct messaging to users, including through social media apps. Although previous research has recommended “no selfie zones,” barriers, and signage as ways to prevent selfie incidents, our results suggest this may not be enough, and it may be prudent to also engage in direct safety messaging to social media users. Media reporting of selfie incidents should focus on preventive messaging rather than blame or warning.
We sympathize with many of the points Burt makes in challenging the value of genetics to advance our understanding of social science. Here, we discuss how recent reflections on epistemic validity in the behavioral sciences can further contribute to a reappraisal of the role of sociogenomics to explain and predict human traits, aptitudes, and achievement.
The study's goal is to find out how emotional intelligence training affects adolescents' capacity for problem-solving and making choices. With a pretest-posttest control group, this study is an actual experimental design. 22 students who were enrolled in secondary school using this paradigm participated in the study. Nonparametric tests like Mann Whitney U and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks were deemed appropriate for data analysis because there were fewer than 30 students in each of the experimental and control groups. Problem-solving and decision-making abilities were employed in the experimental and control groups of the conducted pretest findings, which are initially used for emotional intelligence. According to the study's findings, there was a significant difference in the students in the experimental group's total scores for emotional intelligence (Z =-2.402, p.05), problem solving (Z =-2.845, p.01), and decision-making skills (Z =-2.580, p.05). It has been discovered that emotional intelligence is useful in the improvement of decision-making abilities. The results of the study showed that there was a significant difference in the emotional quotient of the pupils in the experimental group (p.01). Additionally, a statistically significant difference in favor of the experimental group was discovered for both problem-solving and decision-making abilities (p .01). These results were talked about and understood.
Theoretical foundations of the Moving Toward Social Justice (MTSJ) model for social justice and diversity education are described with emphasis on collaborative project-based learning with community organizations. Connections with psychological models of wisdom formation and the development of intercultural competence in addressing cultural dilemmas involved in consultation on complex problems faced by community organizations explain how student motivation and engagement can be enhanced through developing skills and capacities important in identifying needs within oppressed and marginalized communities. Highlights include contextual analysis of factors influencing student motivation, organizational concerns, community members’ needs, and needs for structural change in the selection and development of project opportunities. Methods are examined for addressing barriers to engagement in the process of developing student competence to recognize cultural dilemmas and respect differences of persons living in complex intersections of gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and ability/disability status.KeywordsProject-based learningSocial justiceDiversityUndergraduatesResistanceCreative problem solvingCollaborationIntersectionality
Exposure to violent video games is associated with aggressive behaviors among adolescents. However, not all adolescents who play violent video games demonstrate bullying behaviors. Based on the General Aggression Model (GAM), this cross-sectional study examined the interactive effect of individual (i.e., belief in a just world [BJW]) and situational factors (i.e., violent video game exposure [VVGE]) on bullying perpetration. Using a representative sample of 4,250 adolescents from five secondary schools in Southwest China (54.4% males, Mage = 15.15, SD = 1.5 years old), we examined the moderating role of BJW in the relationship between VVGE and bullying perpetration. The results suggest that VVGE is significantly and positively associated with bullying perpetration. Moreover, after controlling for covariates, general and personal BJW interacts with the situational variable (i.e., VVGE) to predict bullying perpetration among Chinese adolescents. The positive effect of VVGE on bullying perpetration is lower among adolescents with high general and personal BJW than that among adolescents with low BJW. The findings support the GAM theory and highlight the buffering role of BJW in the effect of VVGE on bullying perpetration.
The outbreak of COVID 19 has brought about changes in all spheres of human life. In the present times of pandemic, human life has suffered not only from physical stresses but also encountered and endured several mental stresses. In recent times people adopted several measures to bring positivity to their life. The present study explores the relationship between- Hope, Belief in Just World, Covid −19, and Trust in the Government in India, during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Data was collected online from young adults, via Google forms, using the tools- Adult Hope scale, Covid Anxiety scale, Belief in Just world scale, and Trust in Government. Results showed a significant correlation between the three variables. Hope, Belief in Just World, and Trust in government. Regression analysis found these three variables to significantly impact Covid anxiety. Further, Belief in Just World was found to mediate the relationship between Hope and Covid anxiety. During challenging times, it is important to boost mental health in the right direction. Implications have been further discussed in the article.
Reproductive coercion (RC) can be conceptualized as any behavior that limits one's ability to make decisions about their reproductive health. Here, we broaden this definition to consider the impact of systemic and sociocultural factors on RC using an ecological model. Specifically, we use Bronfenbrenner's model as a framework for organizing the multilevel factors that influence reproductive coercion (RC) and its impacts on individual health. This paper is intended to offer a primer to historical, sociocultural, community, interpersonal, and individual processes that may interact to shape reproductive decision-making and its effect on individual health outcomes. We emphasize the importance of conceptualizing RC within the broader sociocultural and community context, and the potential implications for reproductive and sexual health research, clinical care, and policy in the United States.
Previous work suggests that people have a need for meaning, and that when meaning is threatened, efforts are undertaken to restore a sense of meaning. We hypothesized that a meaning threat (i.e., reminders of death) would increase victim blaming of a domestic violence victim since doing so can restore a sense of meaning-that people get what they deserve-but for those with advanced knowledge of victimology, such as trained counsellors, this effect would be diminished since victim blaming runs counter to their meaning framework that bad things can happen to good people. In addition, because art can provide a sense of meaning, we hypothesized that either creating meaningful art or observing art and finding meaning within it would diminish blaming a domestic violence victim since having a sense of meaning should diminish the need to restore meaning via victim blaming. Over five studies with undergraduate and trained counsellors, we found support for the hypotheses, and a meta-analysis on the victim blaming effect suggested a small, though significant, effect size of d = .28. These findings enhance our understanding of various factors that affect victim blaming, and they point towards relatively easy to administer interventions to diminish it.
The article describes the results of a study of belief in a just world, psychological infantilism, and suggestibility as predictors of subjective well-being. The collection of empirical data was carried out in August-September 2022 with citizens of Ukraine. The sample consisted of 71 people (71.8% - women). It was established: Personal beliefs in a just world is a significant predictor of cognitive and emotional components of subjective well-being. The change of residence forced by the martial law increases the emotional discomfort. At the same time, the negative impact of the change of residence on the emotional state of the individual is partially compensated by the strengthening of the personal beliefs in a just world. Psychological infantilism, primarily infantilism of coping behavior, is a negative predictor of subjective well-being. Suggestibility is not a significant predictor of subjective well-being. At the same time, it is directly related to the infantilism of coping-behavior and position of dependency. By supporting these manifestations of infantilism, suggestibility can make a certain contribution to reducing subjective well-being. The article discusses the limitations of empirical research.
Punishment is fundamentally unfair, never justly deserved, and cannot be eliminated. The deep Belief in a Just World, the subject of extensive psychological research, makes it difficult for us to accept the fact that we live in an unjust world. Belief in moral responsibility is designed to protect our comfortable belief in a just world, but that comfort comes at the price of blaming victims and blocking deeper inquiry. Facing the disturbing fact of unavoidable injustice motivates us to take effective steps to minimize injustice: to seek out the deeper causes of criminal behavior and fix them, and to treat those we must unjustly punish (through coercive isolation) with respect, concern, and the least possible discomfort.
Objectives:
This study aimed to evaluate whether belief in a just world is associated with community-level abortion stigma.
Study design:
From December 2020 through June 2021, we conducted a national U.S. survey of 911 adults using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Survey respondents completed both the Community-Level Abortion Stigma Scale and Global Belief in a Just World Scale. We used linear regression to evaluate the association between just world beliefs, demographic characteristics, and community-level abortion stigma.
Results:
The mean Global Belief in a Just World Scale score was 25.8. The mean Community-Level Abortion Stigma Scale score was 2.6. The strength of just world beliefs (β=0.7), male gender (β=4.1), a history of a previous pregnancy (β=3.1), post-college education (β=2.8) and strength of religious beliefs (β=0.3) were associated with higher community-level abortion stigma. Asian race was associated with lower community-level abortion stigma (β=-7.2).
Conclusions:
After controlling for demographic characteristics, strong just world beliefs were associated with higher community-level abortion stigma.
Implications:
Understanding just world beliefs may provide a potential target for stigma reduction strategies.
No presente artigo, apresentamos um panorama acerca da teoria da crença no mundo justo e da socialização legal, objetivando expor uma visão geral das perspectivas de estudos e suas aproximações para compreender como crianças e adolescentes legitimam as autoridades e dão sentido ao cumprimento das regras a partir da crença na justiça. O artigo apresenta uma análise da literatura dividida em três eixos: exposição da socialização legal como campo de pesquisa que investiga a internalização de normas e regras sociais, a formação de confi ança nas autoridades e o desenvolvimento de atitudes e comportamentos em relação às leis; apresentação da teoria da crença no mundo justo, cujo intuito consiste em identificar os mecanismos pelos quais os indivíduos elaboram as noções de justiça; e discussão sobre como as percepções da justiça podem influenciar as relações das crianças com as autoridades e mobilizar diferentes atitudes diante de normas e leis. Com base nas evidências apresentadas, concluímos que uma elevada crença no mundo justo aumenta o nível de cooperação com as autoridades, uma vez que os indivíduos são motivados pelas expectativas de tratamentos justos e de esforços recompensados.
His study explores the connections between partisan news exposure, affective political polarization, perceived threats from migrants, and immigrant deservingness. Data from a 2018 U.S. national survey indicate that exposure to immigration news on Fox News is associated with higher levels of polarization among Republicans and Democrats, while exposure to such content on CNN is not. Additionally, greater polarization correlates with Republicans perceiving more threats from migrants, while Democrats perceive fewer. Finally, Republicans with higher levels of polarization are more likely than polarized Democrats to believe that migrants should have specific qualifications to be considered deserving.
Purpose
Victims of online fraud face a high level of blame from their families, friends, professionals, the broader community and often from themselves. Victims are commonly perceived as stupid, gullible and undeserving of justice. The reasons for this are under-researched, and there are currently no satisfactory explanations of why victim-blaming occurs so frequently in cases of online fraud. This paper aims to propose a potential theoretical explanation for the high level of blame experienced by online fraud victims.
Design/methodology/approach
Lerner’s Belief in a Just World (BJW) theory is posited as a helpful theoretical explanation for the high level of blame directed towards victims of online fraud.
Findings
This paper argues that Lerner’s BJW theory is a helpful framework for understanding the blame faced by victims of online fraud because it posits that behavioural responsibility (a trait commonly ascribed to online fraud victims) is central to perceived blameworthiness; and that compensation for a crime determines the level of blame directed towards victims. As victims of online fraud are exceptionally unlikely to receive any type of compensation (whether monetary or otherwise), BJW may help explain the blame directed towards victims.
Originality/value
Prior scholarship predominantly understands the blame faced by online fraud victims through the lens of Nils Christie’s (1986) “ideal victim” thesis. This paper presents an advance over this existing understanding by illustrating how BJW provides a more detailed explanation for victim blame in online fraud.
Prejudice related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a social issue worldwide. A possible psychological factor that promotes prejudice is the belief in just deserts (BJD) regarding individuals infected with COVID-19 ( i.e. , the belief that the infected individual deserves to be infected). The BJD is based on the belief in immanent justice. It is reportedly higher in Japan than in other countries. Therefore, we conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate the BJD among Japanese individuals and clarify its associations with demographic factors or infection-related and socio-psychological characteristics. To this end, we conducted an online questionnaire survey in Japan from August 7–8, 2020, with 1,207 respondents aged 20–69 years. We performed screening to exclude inappropriate responses. We investigated the association between the BJD and demographic factors such as gender and age. We also investigated the association between the BJD and infection-related and socio-psychological characteristics, including risk perception of COVID-19 infection and human rights restrictions ( i.e. , the degree of agreement with government restrictions on individuals’ behavior during emergencies). Among the surveyed items, human rights restrictions showed a strong association with BJD, followed by risk perception of COVID-19 infection. Men had a slightly higher BJD than women. Our study is significant in that it is the first to investigate the items associated with the BJD, thereby providing foundational information for revising individual perceptions of justice related to COVID-19 and solving prejudice-related issues.
What are the bright- and dark-side personality trait, ideological belief, and mind-set correlates of self-assessed optimism? This paper reports on four studies, with a total N > 2000. In each, participants rated to what extent they were an optimist on an 8-point scale (high to low). We obtained demographic (age, sex) and ideological (political and religious beliefs) data in each study, as well as self-ratings on four variables (e.g., attractiveness, intelligence) which we aggregated and labelled self-esteem, which had alphas ranging from .70 to .80. We assessed personality, intelligence and other belief systems in different studies. Study 1 showed older, more religious, but less intelligent males with higher self-esteem and Belief in a Just World (BJW) were more optimistic. Study 2 showed older, more religious people, with higher self-esteem were more optimistic. Study 3 showed Open, Extraverted, Agreeable, Emotionally Stable, religious people with higher self-esteem and low on Negative Affectivity and Detachment, but high on Disinhibition, were most optimistic. Study 4 showed older, more religious people with higher self-esteem and lower Dweck fixed personality mindset beliefs were more optimistic. The concept and correlates of dispositional optimism and its measurement are discussed. Limitations and implications are noted.
https://mersz.hu/nemeth-a-vallalkozoi-let-illuzioi-a-vallalkozoi-magatartas-elmeletei/
https://mersz.hu/nemeth-illusions-of-entrepreneurship-theories-of-entrepreneurial-behaviour/
Examined the belief in a just wold theory and the difference between immanent justice and ultimate justice. Belief in immanent justice is defined along the lines of J. Piaget's observations as the direct and just payment for previous actions. Belief in ultimate justice is connected with religious doctrines and is therefore based on the promise of higher justice to compensate for the injustice on Earth. 326 participants (15-66 years old) completed a questionnaire on their beliefs in justice and attitudes toward cancer. Results show that there is a differentiation between 4 justice belief factors: (1) belief in immanent justice, (2) general belief in a just world, (3) belief in ultimate justice, and (4) belief in an unjust world. Immanent justice is associated with accusations, blame, and acceptance of sanctions against victims. In contrast, the belief in ultimate justice predominately leads to positive attitudes toward adaptive processes such as the ability to find sense and meaning in severe illness, optimism, and confidence in coping with severe illness.
Reanalyzed the data by D. J. Harper et al (see record
1991-29224-001) using Just World Scale totals gathered from 89 adults (aged 18–72 yrs). More low than high Just World believers agreed that Third World poverty was due to exploitation, war, and world economic systems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The author hypothesized that the less one focuses on long-term goals, or the less one plans to achieve goals through just means, the less essential is the belief in a just world (BJW) and the less one will work at maintaining this belief when it is threatened. In Studies 1 and 2, participants’ focus on long-term investments was either manipulated or measured, and their reactions to a victim who presented a high or low threat to the BJW were assessed. In Study 2, the tendency to obtain goals through unjust means (delinquency) also was measured. As predicted, strong long-term focus and low-delinquency participants reacted more negatively toward the high-threat victim, presumably to maintain the BJW. Study 3 showed that the more one focuses on long-term investments and the less one uses unjust means, the stronger one’s BJW.
Seventy working women completed a questionnaire that assessed their dissatisfaction with their own job situation (personal discontent), their dissatisfaction with the job situations of women as a group (group discontent), and the strength of their beliefs in a just world (BJW). One month later, they completed a questionnaire that measured behaviors potentially related to discontent, some involving self-improvement (self-directed behaviors) and others relating to collective action (group-directed behaviors). Strong believers in a just world reported less group discontent than weak believers. BJW predicted both self-directed and group-directed behaviors; strong believers reported fewer behaviors of both kinds than weak believers. Taken together, BJW, group discontent, and personal discontent accounted for 23% of the variance in self-directed behaviors (R = .48) and 26% of the variance in group-directed behaviors (R = .50). These data constitute the first evidence linking BJW to assertive actions.
We live in a world filled with risk. Nearly every day, we face the prospect of many different types of threats ranging from relatively common, everyday risks (e.g., of losing one’s wallet) to the most serious personal calamities (e.g., getting hit by a car, dying of AIDS). From a psychological standpoint, understanding how people form subjective estimates of risk, and the factors that influence such perceptions, is of critical importance. In particular, it seems likely that one’s subjective sense of well-being may depend on whether one feels personally vulnerable to these threats or not. Thus, understanding when and why people feel vulnerable to life’s many risks should offer more general insights into the factors mediating mental health. Perceptions of risk also seem likely to play a role in mediating many sorts of decisions and behaviors (cf. Johnson & Tversky, 1983, for a related discussion). For example, such simple acts as driving a car probably involve the implicit or explicit assessment of different sorts of risks (e.g., the probability of getting in an accident) and these perceptions may strongly determine many of the choices we make (e.g., how fast to drive on a stormy night).
The purpose was to estimate the relationship between a defendant's stated intelligence on perceptions of his sanify and responsibility. This analog study was a 2 (occupation of defendant) x 2 (seriousness of outcome) between-subjects design. A scenario involving an insanity defense was read by 190 college students who then answered a 12-item questionnaire. The hypothesis that participants would attribute less responsibility to less intelligent defendants than to more intelligent ones was partially supported. Belief in a Just World moderated these evaluations. Seriousness of outcome influenced men's perceptions of the defendant's insanity, responsibility, and sentence, bur not women's. Participants seemed to be more willing to accept the possibility chat the defendant was insane if the outcome of his crime was not serious.
Whilst it may not be totally clear who first used the term Belief in a Just World (BJW) it is certain that the ideas behind the concept can be found in the work of early attribution theorists (Heider, 1958) and indeed in the ideas of the great Greek Philosophers. People prefer to live in stable, orderly, predictable world where just works are rewarded and evil punished.
Since the mid 1960s, the effects of individual differences in one's Belief in a Just World (BJW; Lerner, 1980; Lerner & Miller, 1978; Rubin & Peplau, 1975) has been applied to various domains. One area that seems particu larly promising is the understanding of how the BJW might be related to a number of important indicators of relationship functioning and well-be ing. In this chapter, we will review some preliminary findings that have been obtained from samples of married and dating couples relating the BJW to one style of handling interpersonal conflict, willingness to accom modate.
Individuals have a need to believe that they live in a world where people generally get what they deserve. The belief that the world is just enables the individual to confront his physical and social environment as though they were stable and orderly. Without such a belief it would be difficult for the individual to commit himself to the pursuit of long-range goals or even to the socially regulated behavior of day-to-day life. Since the belief that the world is just serves such an important adaptive function for the individual, people are very reluctant to give up this belief, and they can be greatly troubled if they encounter evidence that suggest that the world is not really just or orderly after all” (Lerner & Miller, 1978, pp. 1030–1031).
This study assessed sex differences on a portion of the Multidimensional Belief in a Just World Scale and the Irrational Beliefs Test for an undergraduate sample of 23 men and 23 women who completed both scales. No significant mean difference was found between men and women on either test. Replication with a much larger sample is needed.
When I first came across Justice Motive Theory (JMT) and related research (Lerner, 1970; Lerner and Simmons, 1966), I was initially confused, then puzzled, and eventually fascinated by the idea that certain social judgments and behaviors, such as blaming victims for their misfortune, might be motivated by the exact opposite of what these judgments and behaviors seemed to reflect on first sight: a need for justice. Given my interest in personality and individual differences, I was attracted to Rubin and Peplau’s (1973, 1975) suggestion that the justice motive (JM) might differ between individuals just like other motives and needs do (power, achievement, approval, etc.).
According to just world theory (Lerner, 1977, 1980; Lerner, Miller, & Holmes, 1976), people have a basic need to believe that the world is a just place—a place where individuals get what they deserve and deserve what they get. The belief in a just world provides an explanation for people’s responses to the suffering of others, especially their tendency to blame innocent victims for their fate (see Lerner & Miller, 1978, for a review). Rubin and Peplau (1975) proposed that individuals differ in the extent to which they actually believe the world is a just place. Studies investigating the relationship between individual differences in just world beliefs and attitudes toward suffering generally show that strong believers in a just world have a greater tendency to blame victims for their misfortune and a greater acceptance of general social inequalities than do weak believers (e.g., Clyman, Roth, Sniderman, & Charrier, 1980; Dalbert, Fisch, & Montada, 1992; Furnham, 1985; Furnham & Gunter, 1984; Glennon & Joseph, 1993; Smith, 1985; Wagstaff, 1983; Zuckerman, Gerbasi, Kravitz, & Wheeler, 1975; see Furnham & Procter, 1989, for a review).
To estimate the relationship between the belief in a just world and irrational thinking, 62 undergraduates completed the Jones Irrational Beliefs Test and the Multidimensional Belief in a Just World Scale. It was hypothesized that belief in a just world precluded rational thinking. No significant correlations were found between scores on irrational beliefs and beliefs in a just world; however, post hoc tests indicated a significant relationship between age and scores on irrational belief in women, indicating that perhaps the older women were less prone to irrational beliefs.
Based on the analysis of relevant studies concerning well-being in old age, three innovations were proposed that seem to be beneficial for future research in this field: 1) In addition to two frequently studied personality factors of mental well-being in old-age (extraversion and neuroticism), it was proposed to take into account the value-related priorities, and the content of subjectively significant goals of old people. Special emphasis is laid on the necessity to check the postulated influence of belief in a just world (Dalbert, 1998). 2) In accordance with the findings of L.L. Carstensen (1995) and M.P. Lawton (1996) concerning the significant influence of an improved ability of old people upon their capacity to manage their emotions, which results in their improved experiencing of life, it was proposed to examine the coping strategies usedin old age, and the coping styles characteristic of old age. 3) The third innovation proposed is related to the fact that the cross-sectional research projects cannot identify all factors; they can only identify cohort correlates of well-being. Since the longitudinal research method is - for various reasons (economic point of view, length of research) - applicable to a limited extent only, it was proposed - in accordance with W. Fleson and P.B. Baltes (1998) - to use both actual and retrospective formats of the tools selected. Special attention is paid to diagnosing the well-being factor. The paper presents points of departure for designing the original diagnostic tool.
Widows typically receive larger monetary awards in wrongful death cases than widowers. One explanation for disproportionate awards is the view that men have higher earning capacities. Surviving spouse's demeanor while testifying and jurors' personality attributes could also influence decisions. A wrongful death trial varied gender and gender-role congruency of surviving spouse's testimony. Mock jurors (N=116) completed the Attitudes Toward Women Scale and Belief in a Just Worm Scale. They read the case, viewed testimony on videotape, and made individual and group decisions. There was limited support for prior research that widows receive larger awards than widowers. Gender-role consistent testimony elicited more monetary damages for both men and women. As hypothesized, women with egalitarian attitudes toward women awarded more to the woman in the incongruent than congruent role. Surviving spouses testifying in stereotypically masculine ways received more in damages than their emotional counterparts from high just world believers. Apparently, rather than being denigrated, these people are awarded more damages to rectify injustice. This research suggests gender of surviving spouse is not solely responsible for differences in awards. Attorneys representing clients in wrongful death cases need to consider demeanor of surviving spouses and attitudes of jurors.
The psychometric properties of the Just World Scale developed by Rubin and Peplau in 1975 has been debated in the literature as some results are conflicting. The present investigation provides another look at its factor structure and the presumed relation between scores of young men and women. The two factors extracted accounted for 24.45% of the variance and matched Rubin and Peplau's factors of "Just" and "Unjust." For total scores and factor scores no effects tor sex were observed.
While a substantial literature on the "belief in a just world" (M. J. Lerner, 1980) exists, little is known about who actually believes that the world is just. This study examines several existing explanations for "just-world" beliefs, and compares the beliefs of African Americans, Latinos, and Whites (aged 18+ yrs). Survey data collected in 1993 from a sample of 2,628 southern Californians are used to test whether race/ethnicity, gender, SES, age, and religion shape "just-world" beliefs. In addition, the question of whether African Americans, Latinos, and Whites differ in the effects of these variables is examined. Race/ethnic differences are found, with Latinos showing the strongest support for the belief in a just world and Blacks, the weakest. Differences are also found by SES and gender, with greatest support for "just-world" beliefs found among men and persons of low SES. Finally, race/ethnic differences are found for several determinants of the belief in a "just world." The author suggests that existing knowledge of the belief in a "just world" reflects a "White" experience of the world traceable to the neglect of Blacks and Latinos in past research.
People ordinarily operate on the basis of unquestioned assumptions about the self, the world and the future. These cognitive schemata describe the benign world or optimism about the future, the meaningful world and the self as worthy (cf., Epstein, 1990; Janoff-Bulman, 1979; Weinstein, 1980). They do not comprise exact descriptions of reality but rather positive misperceptions; therefore they are named by Taylor (e.g., 1989) as positive illusions. Taylor and Brown (1988) showed that this kind of illusions seems to be adaptive for mental health and well-being.
Ever since I read Melvin Lerner’s article “The Justice Motive” (1977) I was fascinated by this construct, especially because it represented a contrast to “self-interest”—the basic motivation postulated in the Economic Model of Man and in Rational Choice Theory. I became convinced that it would be very worthwhile to contribute to the establishment of this construct as a basic human motivation in the Social Sciences.
With the theory of “Belief in a Just World” (BJW), Lerner (1970, 1980) has given an explanation as to why people blame innocent victims for self-infliction of their fate and why they derogate innocent victims. They do so to deny injustices, respectively, to defend their belief in a just world. BJW in its most general form implies the conviction that everybody gets what he or she justly deserves. The other side of the coin is that everybody deserves what happens to him or her. When oneself or others enjoy advantages or suffer disadvantages, we care about justice. BJW motivates the search for legitimate reasons. Deservingness is the most legitimate reason for many people.
Two experiments tested whether innocent victims threaten observers' belief in a just world. In both experiments, participants viewed an innocent victim then performed a modified Stroop task in which they identified the color of several words presented for brief exposures (followed by a mask) on a computer screen. When the threat to justice beliefs was presumably highest, color-identification latencies were greater for justice-related words than for neutral words. In Experiment 2, under conditions of high threat, justice-related interference predicted participants' tendency to disassociate themselves from and derogate the victim. These findings suggest that innocent victims do threaten justice beliefs and responses to these victims may, at times, be attempts to reduce this threat. The methodology presented here may be applied to future investigations of defensive, counternormative processes reflecting people's concern with justice.
The conviction rate for sexual assault is persistently low in the United States. We propose a cycle-of-blame framework to highlight the possibility that the same rape myths that limit convictions are in turn strengthened by not-guilty verdicts. Participants read a summary of a rape trial. In different conditions, they were told that the jury's verdict was guilty or not guilty. In a No-Verdict condition, participants merely read the summary. All 96 participants subsequently responded to questionnaires measuring rape-myth acceptance and victim empathy. Gender affected both the myth and empathy measures, with women accepting fewer myths than men and exhibiting more empathy for the victim. Gender and Condition interacted such that men showed greater acceptance of rape myths and less empathy after a not-guilty versus a guilty verdict. Women evidenced consistently high empathy across conditions and greater myth acceptance after a guilty verdict. Although the cycle-of-blame principle is consistent with the performance of men, women's data require a different interpretation, which we base on just-world theory.
This paper explores the relationship between a belief in a just world and depression. Building on the work of Pearlin, Lieberman, Menaghan, and Mullan (1981), we investigate the role that a belief in a just world might play in the relationship between chronic stressors and depression. Using a random sample of noninstitutionalized adult residents (N = 283) of Northern Ireland, we find that a belief in a just world and a sense of mastery are independent cognitive structures, and that a belief in a just world has a significant effect on depression over and above the effect of mastery. Theoretical implications and research questions generated by this effort are discussed.
The present vignette study examined the relations between attributions for uncontrollable, extremely negative events with religiousness, locus of control, belief in a just world, and self-esteem among a religiously heterogeneous sample of 329 college students (aged 18–58 yrs). More religious subjects made greater attributions to God's will, God's love, and evil spiritual forces, whereas less religious subjects made more attributions to chance and forces of nature. For the subset of Christians (N = 239), a similar pattern was evident as more conservative Christians rated religious attributions higher and less conservative Christians rated naturalistic attributions higher. Religiousness was a better predictor of attributions than locus of control or belief in a just/difficult world. Self-esteem was not correlated with any of the attribution factors. These findings are discussed, stressing the importance of considering religiousness as a factor in future attribution research.
Using data from a survey of 623 undergraduate college women, this study explores the impact of race and prior sexual assault victimization on the acceptance of rape myths. No substantial differences emerged between Black and White women. This finding differs from earlier studies that found more support for rape myths among Blacks. Victims and nonvictims also revealed very similar attitudes, suggesting that socialization patterns or belief in a “just world” may encourage victims to retain their support of some rape myths. The findings suggest that although most college women reject rape myths, a substantial minority continue to support them. Continued educational efforts are recommended.
As Deconchy (this issue) recognizes, belief in a just world appears as a funda- mental principle in people's efforts to organize their important experiences. Earlier observational and experimentally based evidence suggested that the theme of justice plays a central role in human activities and is capable of legitimizing, even requiring the sacrifice of other societal values, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Later theoretical efforts developed from the realization that holy crusades can supersede issues of justice, transform- ing terrorists and their innocent victims into heroes and martyrs. Subsequent research confirmed the presence and functioning of heroic themes in people's lives-themes designed to provide security in the face of inevitable failures and suffering.
Previous research often has shown that conservative ideology is positively correlated with the extent to which people blame victims of rape. However, much of this work has been descriptive, with little attention directed toward the development of theoretical models addressing why conservatism might play an important role in this area. Three hypotheses were tested. The just world hypothesis suggests that people blame others to preserve one’s view that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get. The personal responsibility hypothesis suggests that conservatism is associated with a tendency to hold people personally responsible for their own actions. The legitimization hypothesis stipulates that conservative perceivers are motivated to maintain traditional power differences between dominant and nondominant groups. Two studies showed much more support for the legitimization hypothesis compared to the other hypotheses. The implications of the present results for previous investigations of victim blaming are discussed.
It is argued that members of low status groups are faced with a psychological conflict between group justification tendencies to evaluate members of one’s own group favorably and system justification tendencies to endorse the superiority of higher status out-groups. In Study 1, members of low status groups exhibited less ingroup favoritism and more ingroup ambivalence than did members of high status groups. Perceptions that the status differences were legitimate increased outgroup favoritism and ambivalence among low status groups, and they increased ingroup favoritism and decreased ambivalence among high status groups. In Study 2, the belief in a just world and social dominance orientation increased ambivalence on the part of women toward female victims of gender discrimination, but they decreased ambivalence on the part of men. Evidence here indicates that system-justifying variables increase ingroup ambivalence among low status group members and decrease ambivalence among high status group members.
The relationship between willingness to accommodate and belief in a just world (JW), possible mediators of this relationship, and their impact on marital satisfaction and perceived conflict were examined among older and younger married couples. In both samples, JW predicted greater willingness to accommodate. Among older couples, the relationship of JW to own accommodation was mediated by perceptions of spousal accommodation. Among younger couples, the relationship of JW to own accommodation was not explained by perceived spousal accommodation, trust, or partner perspective taking. Further, only among older couples did JW predict greater marital satisfaction and lower frequency of conflict. For older couples, the relationship of JW to satisfaction was not explained by own or perceived spousal accommodation; however; own and perceived spousal accommodation accounted for the relationship of JW to frequency of conflict. These studies suggest that belief in a just world contributes positively to interpersonal processes and marital well-being.
In the present study, the effects of both contextual and individual factors on attitudes toward bullying among prospective teachers were examined. Contextual factors included type of aggression and the condition of having witnessed bullying. Individual factors included sex, age, empathy, sex role orientation and belief in a just world. A MANCOVA revealed no sex differences, but there was a significant main effect of the contextual factors on (a) the extent to which acts were labelled as bullying, (b) the perceived seriousness of bullying and (c) the likelihood of intervention. Physical types of aggression were labelled more often as bullying, were viewed more seriously and were more likely to warrant intervention than verbal aggression. Multiple regression analysis revealed that type of aggression, witnessing the interaction, empathy, masculinity and femininity predicted intolerant attitudes toward bullying. The results are discussed with reference to intervening in the problem of bullying.
The effects of 157 university students' gender, attitudes toward women (Spence, Helmreich, & Stapp, 1973), and just-world beliefs (Lerner, 1980) on their perceptions and attributions regarding the perpetrator and victim of an instance of wife abuse were examined. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed two patterns of results, each differentially associated with participants' gender. Consistent with Heider's (1958) balance theory, males blamed and derogated the wife/victim more as their attitudes toward women became less favorable. Among females, in contrast, those with positive attitudes toward women blamed, but did not derogate, the wife/victim more as their just-world beliefs became stronger. The latter finding is interpreted in view of research which suggests that women may blame a victim of violence toward women in an effort to gain perceived control over the possibility of their own potential victimization. The implications of these findings for understanding and changing people's perceptions of the victims of wife abuse are discussed.
The aim of the present study was firstly to investigate attributions of fault (cause, blame and responsibility) to a rape victim, and in the second study to examine causal explanations for rape as a function of belief in a Just World. It was predicted from the first vignette study that males would attribute more fault to the rape victim than females, and that the victim's race, dress and resistance would affect the attribution of fault. Sex of respondent and victim dress were found to be strong determinants of attribution about rape. In the second part of the study Just World Beliefs were related to 20 theories about the causes of rape. Partial support was found for the prediction that belief in a Just World would affect explanations for rape. Results are discussed in terms of attributional studies on the perceived causes of injustice.
In three studies, we tested the hypothesis that the belief in a just and an unjust world are distinct constructs. The two-factor model was supported through the use of structural equation modeling and the pattern of correlations with religiosity, well-being, and political ideology. Specifically, only the belief in a just world correlated positively with religiosity, three indicators of well being (life satisfaction, mood level, and affect), and preferring a well-established political party. A comparison between prisoners and guards revealed further differences. Prisoners endorsed more strongly the belief in an unjust world, but both guards and prisoners equally endorsed the belief in a just world. We discuss the differences between the belief in a just and an unjust world, and the implications of believing in an unjust world for social behavior.
The present paper examined police officers' (N = 594) exposure to operational duties and the possible moderating role played by just world beliefs, availability of social support and negative attitudes towards emotional expression and their likelihood of reporting symptoms as measured by the GHQ(12). Statistical differences are found in univariate analysis but interactions within an analysis of variance were for the most part not statistically significant. A multivariate procedure, partial order scalogram analysis (POSA) constructs profiles for respondents in terms of their scores across the moderating variables. This enabled examination of interactional effects, which showed differences in the role of moderators under conditions of high and low stressor exposure and revealed the most at risk officers (profiles in which officers exhibited high negative attitude towards emotional expression, low just world beliefs and low levels of social support). Implications for further analysis and counselling interventions are discussed.
Although perceptions of risk have been studied extensively by both social and cognitive psychologists, relatively little work has focused on individual differences in these perceptions. Across two studies, the authors examined the relationship of perceived risk to just world beliefs (BJW) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). Both studies showed that these two variables have interactive effects on perceived risk across a wide variety of different types of threats (e.g., getting hijacked, contracting AIDS). Among high authoritarians, participants felt much less at risk if they believed in a just world than if they did not. Among low authoritarians, however, BJW and perceived risk were unrelated. Results are conceptualized in terms of a buffering hypothesis, which suggests that the extent to which self-protective variables (such as BJW) mediate risk are most pronounced among persons who view the world in threatening terms (i.e., high authoritarians). Implication of these findings for previous models of risk and personality development are discussed.
Studies have shown that the belief in a just world (BJW) is related to psychological well-being. The authors suggest that studies exploring this relationship might benefit by making the distinction between the BJW for self versus for others or in general. In two studies, the authors assessed subjects' perceptions of depression, stress, and life satisfaction for self and for others. Subjects also completed measures of the five-factor model of personality. As predicted, the BJW for self most strongly and consistently predicted decreases in depression and stress, and increases in life satisfaction. When the five personality dimensions were included in the analyses, the BJW for self and for others continued to predict life satisfaction but not depression and stress. The implications of these results concerning the relationship between the BJW and psychological well-being, and how the just world is conceptualized, are discussed.
Cross-sectional studies were conducted to examine whether the belief in a just world formed a unidimensional construct in Hungary. Overall, from 1991 to 1994, the scale became increasingly more homogeneous, ultimately measuring a unidimensional construct from 1993 onward. Studies conducted in Slovenia and Slovalia suggested hat these changes in the just world structure could not be explained by societal factors such as a changing political system. Support for the validity of the Hungarian just world scale was gained by finding positive associations between just world belief and satisfaction with one's (past) life and religiosity. Moreover, cross-sectional comparisons during 1993 indicated that Hungarian subjects differentiated more strongly between just world belief and belief in future compensation than did German subjects. Further, for Hungarian subjects, just world belief and belief in future compensation correlated positively with religiosity; for Germans, only the belief in future compensation correlated positively with religiosity.
This paper is predicated on the idea that Just World Beliefs (JWB) are multidimensional. It is proposed that individual difference in JWB are divided into three components referring to different spheres of behavior: personal, interpersonal, and social political (Paulus, 1983). A questionnaire was specifically devised to assess these beliefs. There was some evidence of internal reliability. A construct validity study is reported to substantiate the use of the new instrument. It examined the relationship between JWB and the attitudes to AIDS. As predicted, JWB beliefs were closely related to five attitudinal factors concerning AIDS. Socio-political just world beliefs seemed most closely linked to attitudes to AIDS, though the size of the correlations suggests the relationship was not very substantial. The structure of JWB are discussed along with other relevant research on attitudes to AIDS.
The author investigated the effects of just world belief on the egocentric fairness bias among Japanese undergraduates. After responding to the Just World (JW) Scale (Rubin & Peplau, 1975) and to a set of fair and unfair behaviors, the participants were divided into 2 groups (low JW and high JW) according to their responses to the scale. The egocentric fairness bias was confirmed; the participants tended to consider their own behaviors as fair rather than unfair and other people's behaviors as unfair rather than fair. High-JW participants regarded their own behaviors as fairer and those of other people as less fair than did low-JW participants. The egocentric fairness bias was stronger in the participants who believed strongly in a just world than in those whose belief in a just world was weaker.
The study determined if Furnham's proposed Just World and Unjust World subscales (1985. European Journal of Social Psychology, 15, 363–366) could be recovered from Rubin and Peplau's Just World Scale (JWS) (1973. Journal of Social Issues, 29, 73–93; 1975. Journal of Social Issues, 31, 65–89). The study also examined the psychometric properties of the JWS, in particular, the factor structure, internal consistency reliability, relation to social desirability, and concurrent validity of this long-established scale. Findings from a sample of 253 Canadian management undergraduates revealed strong support for the uncorrelated two-factor solution, just and unjust world dimensions, but continuing concerns over the low scale and subscale reliabilities. JWS scores were independent of social desirability scores as measured by the Marlowe–Crowne Social Desirability scale (Crowne & Marlowe, 1960. Journal of Consulting Pschology, 24, 349–354). Results suggest that researchers use the just and unjust world scores in addition to overall scores.
The psychometric properties of the Just World Scale developed by Rubin and Peplau in 1975 has been debated in the literature as some results are conflicting. The present investigation provides another look at its factor structure and the presumed relation between scores of young men and women. The two factors extracted accounted for 24.45% of the variance and marched Rubin and Peplau's factors of "Just" and "Unjust." For total scores and factor scores no effects for sex were observed.
To estimate the relationship between the belief in a just world and irrational thinking, 62 undergraduates completed the Jones Irrational Beliefs Test and the Multidimensional Belief in a Just World Scale. It was hypothesized that belief in a just world precluded rational thinking. No significant correlations were found between scores on irrational beliefs and beliefs in a just world; however, post hoc tests indicated a significant relationship between age and scores on irrational belief in women, indicating that perhaps the older women were less prone to irrational beliefs.
Nearly 1,700 psychology students from 12 countries completed the Rubin and Peplau (1973) Just World Beliefs Scale, which measures the extent to which people believe the world is just or unjust. There were large and predicted differences for both the just and unjust world components of the scale, which were analyzed separately. However, there were few sex differences within each society. Rank-ordered just world and unjust world scores correlated significantly with two of the cultural dimensions (power-distance and individualism) that were found by Hofstede (1984).
Discusses the Just World Scale (JWS), a construct which measures the attributional processes allowing individuals to believe people get what they deserve. Reports findings from a study involving 375 undergraduates that re-examined the JWS factor structure and internal consistency. Reveals significant gender differences with men showing a stronger just world belief. (DB)