Immanent Justice Research Articles

Development of integrated explanations for illness

The present study examined children’s and adults’ explanations about the relations between various factors (contagion, imbalanced diet, lack of sleep, mental depression, cold weather, and immanent justice) and the onset of illness. Six-, 9-, 11-year-old children and adults very frequently judged that contagion and cold weather would make an individual contract a cold. They also tended to judge that lifestyle habits such as nutrition and sleep are causal factors. When asked why these factors led to illness, children and adults frequently referred to “germs” and “resistance” factors. In resistance explanations, given factors were assumed to cause illness by weakening an individual’s resistant power, which was expressed as vital force, power, energy, physical strength, immune system, or stress. Coexistence of “germ” and “resistance” explanations were more evident among adults than children, and among adults with a higher education level.

Filozofijsko razmatranje pojma pravednosti

The author gives a historico-problematical account of the conceptions of justice beginning with the Greek mythic understanding (Hesiod), continuing will) Plato’s determination of justice as the ideal of setting up a state and through Aristotel’s making immanent justice as the mean within experientially existing state arrangements and as the measured nature of partitive and corrective justice. The Christian tum towards the attribution of justice to the individual developed out of the theonomously conceived orientation towards God. Leibnitz’s understanding of justice is determined within the universalist- philosophical theory as the greatest moral norm. In addition, the author tersely presents the key thematic passages from Wolff, Hume, Locke, after which he elaborates the formal structure of the concept of justice as the preparatory step for the final consideration of J. Rawls’s Theory of justice and his central principle of the maximin.

Análise da noção de justiça em estudantes com altas habilidades/superdotação: uma contribuição educacional

A superdotação é conhecida pelos traços da criatividade, envolvimento com a tarefa e alto nível de motivação. Existem outros pouco explorados, como, por exemplo, a moral autônoma. O presente artigo teve como objetivo analisar a noção de justiça de estudantes com altas habilidades/superdotação. Os sujeitos pesquisados foram dez estudantes do ensino fundamental e médio com a idade entre onze e dezesseis anos identificados com altas habilidades/superdotação no contexto escolar e que frequentam salas de recursos multifuncionais em dois colégios públicos de um município no interior do Estado do Paraná/Brasil. Os dados foram obtidos por meio do método clínico piagetiano e o instrumento de investigação foi a entrevista semiestrutura compostas por dilemas morais envolvendo as categorias da justiça imanente, justiça retributiva, distributiva e respeito a regras. O estudo demonstrou que estes estudantes possuem uma ampla compreensão e sensibilidade em relação às injustiças que ocorrem no contexto geral da sociedade assim como o respeito às regras. Concluímos que os aspectos relacionados à moral autônoma ficaram evidentes nos estudantes pesquisados pela demonstração de uma refinada noção de justiça. No entanto, se faz necessário o desenvolvimento de ações pedagógicas que permitam discussões sobre temas do seu interesse no intuito de favorecer a construção de ambientes cooperativos. Por fim, destacamos que é fundamental que os professores conheçam as características das altas habilidades/superdotação a fim de estimular o exercício da autonomia moral e, assim, oferecer oportunidades para agir de acordo com esses princípios em ambientes cooperativos.

Вера в справедливый мир и психологическое благополучие у несовершеннолетних правонарушителей мужского пола

The study explores the characteristics of the relationship between the mental well-being and the belief in a just world among male juvenile offenders. 186 adolescents aged from 13 to 18 years (97 offenders and 89 law-abiding adolescents) were interviewed. Following methods were used for investigation of empirical constructs: “General Belief in a Just World Scale” (M. Schmitt, L. Montada, C. Dalbert), “General Belief in a Unjust World Scale” (J. Maes), “Belief in Immanent Justice Scale» (J. Maes)”, “General Belief in a Unjust World Scale Belief in Ultimate Justice Scale” (J. Maes), “5-Dimensional Belief in a Just Treatment Scale” (K. Stroebe), “Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being scale” (R. Tennart). Revealed that mental well-being of law-abiding adolescents is positively associated with only two sources of justice: belief in God – for common destiny and belief in self as the source of justice for personal and common destiny. Offenders’ mental well-being is accompanied by an extensive complex of positive relations with beliefs in general, immanent, ultimate justice and also by belief in a diversity of sources of justice (God, nature, other people, self and chance). The study also shown that offenders’ mental well-being is positively associated with belief in an unjust world.

Two Types of Justice Reasoning About Good Fortune and Misfortune: A Replication and Beyond

While research into justice reasoning has progressed extensively, the findings and implications have been mainly limited to Western cultures. This study investigated the relationship between immanent and ultimate justice reasoning about others’ misfortune and good fortune in Japanese participants. The effects of goal focus and religiosity, which previously have been found to foster justice reasoning, were also tested. Participants were randomly assigned to one condition of a 2 (goal focus: long term or short term) × 2 (target person’s moral value: respected or thief) × 2 (type of luck: misfortune or good fortune) design. For immanent justice reasoning, the results revealed that a “bad” person’s misfortune was attributed to their past misdeeds, while a “good” person’s good fortune was attributed to their past good deeds. Regarding ultimate justice reasoning, it was found that a good person’s misfortune was connected more to future compensation than their good fortune, whereas a bad person’s misfortune was not reasoned about using ultimate justice. There was no significant effect of religiosity or goal focus on justice reasoning, which is inconsistent with the findings of previous studies. The necessity of directly examining cultural differences is discussed in relation to extending and strengthening the theory of justice reasoning.

The role of magical thinking in forecasting the future

This article explores the role of magical thinking in the subjective probabilities of future chance events. In five experiments, we show that individuals tend to predict a more lucky future (reflected in probability judgements of lucky and unfortunate chance events) for someone who happened to purchase a product associated with a highly moral person than for someone who unknowingly purchased a product associated with a highly immoral person. In the former case, positive events were considered more likely than negative events, whereas in the latter case, the difference in the likelihood judgement of positive and negative events disappeared or even reversed. Our results indicate that this effect is unlikely to be driven by participants' immanent justice beliefs, the availability heuristic, or experimenter demand. Finally, we show that individuals rely more heavily on magical thinking when their need for control is threatened, thus suggesting that lack of control represents a factor in driving magical thinking in making predictions about the future.

Вера в справедливый мир как коррелят психологического благополучия подростков

Article presents research of relationship of Belief in a Just World and Psychological well-being of adolescents. 212 adolescents aged from 13 to 18 years in schools and secondary specialized educational institutions of Voronezh were surveyed. Following methods were used for investigation of empirical constructs: “General Belief in a Just World Scale” (M. Schmitt, L. Montada, C. Dalbert), “General Belief in a Unjust World Scale” (J. Maes), “Belief in Immanent Justice Scale” (J. Maes), “Belief in Ultimate Justice Scale” (J. Maes), “5-Dimensional Belief in a Just Treatment Scale” (K. Stroebe), “Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being scale” (R. Tennart). Revealed that adolescents’ psychological well-being is positively correlated with General Belief in a Just World and its species: Belief in Immanent and Ultimate justice. It is also positively correlated with Belief in God, Nature, other people and Self-concept as sources of justice. We compared the ratio of Belief in a Just and an Unjust world in adolescents with different levels of psychological well-being. We found that psychologically advantaged adolescents’ Belief in an Unjust world is balanced by Belief in Ultimate justice; adolescents with low level of psychological well-being believe that the world is mostly unjust. This work was supported by grant RFH № 15-36-01233.

The Coexistence of Different Explanatory Models of Misfortune: A Case from Serbia

Abstract The paper discusses two concepts of supernatural explanations of misfortune and how they co-exist in a particular socio-cultural environment. The author argues that these two concepts are used differently depending on the position of the person evaluating them. While the concept of supernatural harm is usually used in “first person” narratives, the concept of God’s punishment is used by community members as a warning to all wrongdoers and cheats. Searching for the external source of problems is important for personal self-esteem, while identifying an internal cause and its consequence (God’s punishment as the consequence of someone’s “sins”) is part of “immanent justice” narratives. The central claim is based on attribution theory, but the study also looks at cognitive theories of supernatural beliefs.

Adults’ explanations and children's understanding of contagious illnesses, non-contagious illnesses, and injuries

The present study examined (1) whether children notice different causes for contagious illnesses, non-contagious illnesses, and injuries and (2) what information adults provide to children and to what extent this information is related to children's causal awareness. Studies 1 and 2 explored preschool teachers’ and mothers’ explanations of illnesses and injuries, and Studies 3 and 4 examined children's understanding of causality. The teachers and mothers frequently offered various kinds of information about illnesses and injuries to children. Explanations based on behaviour and life habits were most common. When explaining contagious illnesses, they tended to refer to contagion, while when explaining non-contagious illnesses, they sometimes mentioned inherited constitution. But mention of heredity was never observed for contagious illnesses and injuries. In Studies 3 and 4, 5–11-year-old children consistently denied a belief in immanent justice. For contagious illnesses, they appeared to notice that physical contact with contaminants make us sick. Older children's awareness appeared to become more differentiated and sophisticated. From middle childhood, they come to notice that inherited constitution plays some role in susceptibility to non-contagious illnesses.

Beliefs in the end of the world, justice, religiosity and system preservation: a psychological study of how the ‘end of the world’ could match common belief systems

While historical research has shown that Beliefs in the End of the World (BEW) are present in human culture, no psychological study has yet explored why people endorse one BEW rather than another. The aim of this study is to understand how the BEWs are linked to other beliefs. Three BEWs were studied: Human Deserved End of the World (HDEW) (ecological view of the end of the world); AOW (an external and total end of the world); and Religious End of the World (RSEW) (end of the world caused by a God). Several common beliefs were hypothetically linked to them: Immanent and Ultimate Justice (two dimensions of the Belief in a Just World [BJW]); System Justification (SJ); and Religiosity. Eight hundred and eighty-one participants answered our questionnaires on general Internet forums. Results showed that: (1) HDEW is explained positively by Immanent Justice and negatively by SJs; (2) Annihilation of the World (AOW) is explained negatively by Ultimate Justice and Religiosity, and positively by SJ; and (3) RSEW is explained positively by Religiosity and Ultimate Justice. Justice, Religiosity and preservation of one’s way of life (SJ) seem to be ways to cope with the symbolic threat that is represented by the End of the World. Some perspectives for a psychological study of BEWs are presented.

被害者非難と加害者の非人間化――2種類の公正世界信念との関連――

This study defined Belief in Just World (BJW) multidimensionally and investigated the effects of Belief in Immanent Justice (BIJ) and Belief in Ultimate Justice (BUJ) on victim derogation and draconian punishment of perpetrators. Study 1 tested the validity of the multidimensional structure of BJW and demonstrated relationships between BJW and other psychological variables. In Study 2, we measured the reactions to the victim and perpetrator in an injury case reported in a news.article, and evaluated the relationships of these reactions to BIJ and BUJ. The results revealed that BIJ was associated with a preference in draconian punishment of the perpetrator, while BUJ was associated with dissociation from the victim (a type of victim derogation). In addition, as hypothesized, we found that dehumanization of the perpetrator partially mediated the relationship between BIJ and victim derogation. We discussed relationships between the two types of BJW and just-world maintenance strategies in the situation where a victim and a perpetrator are both recognized.

Getting "just deserts" or seeing the "silver lining": the relation between judgments of immanent and ultimate justice.

People can perceive misfortunes as caused by previous bad deeds (immanent justice reasoning) or resulting in ultimate compensation (ultimate justice reasoning). Across two studies, we investigated the relation between these types of justice reasoning and identified the processes (perceptions of deservingness) that underlie them for both others (Study 1) and the self (Study 2). Study 1 demonstrated that observers engaged in more ultimate (vs. immanent) justice reasoning for a “good” victim and greater immanent (vs. ultimate) justice reasoning for a “bad” victim. In Study 2, participants' construals of their bad breaks varied as a function of their self-worth, with greater ultimate (immanent) justice reasoning for participants with higher (lower) self-esteem. Across both studies, perceived deservingness of bad breaks or perceived deservingness of ultimate compensation mediated immanent and ultimate justice reasoning respectively.

Development and validation of the belief in Female Sexual Deceptiveness scale.

This article describes the development of a scale measuring the extent of men's belief in female sexual deceptiveness. This belief has been postulated as a component of hostile masculinity and a precursor to more serious sexual-assault-facilitating cognitions, though it has not yet been studied empirically. From a final pool of 22 items, the 14-item Belief in Female Sexual Deceptiveness (BFSD) scale was constructed. Data were collected via online survey from 131 predominantly Hispanic college males; scale items were selected by exploratory factor analysis. Three moderately strongly correlated factors emerged, though they overlapped strongly and are currently considered only for future study. An 8-item short form of the BFSD scale (the BFSD-S) was created, as well. The full BFSD scale showed strong internal consistency and significant correlations with gender role attitudes, unequal/coercive relationship attitudes, history of misperceiving women's platonic interest as sexual, history of sexual frustration in relationships, adult attachment, belief in immanent justice, attitudes toward intimate partner violence, and rape myth acceptance. Patterns of divergent correlations with other measures also supported the scale's validity. The BFSD-S performed nearly identically to the BFSD. Limitations, future directions, and implications are discussed.

The role of religiosity in ultimate and immanent justice reasoning

Religious teachings endorse notions of ultimate justice (a misfortune is compensated in the long run) and immanent justice (a misfortune is caused by previous misdeeds). The current research examined whether individual differences in observers’ religiosity moderated ultimate and immanent justice reasoning in response to an unfortunate accident that occurred to either a good or bad person. Results showed that participants higher in religiosity perceived greater ultimate justice for the victim regardless of his moral worth. Participants higher in religiosity engaged in greater immanent justice reasoning when the victim was bad, but not when he was good. Perceived deservingness of the accident mediated the effect of the victim’s moral worth on immanent justice attributions more strongly among participants higher in religiosity.

The Appropriation Process of the Belief in a Just World

Research on the belief in a just world (BJW) has been developing since the mid 60s. However, studies have been mainly developed from an individual differences perspective. As a consequence there are no studies that analyze the cognitive processes implied in the appropriation of the BJW during the socialization processes that occur in infancy and onwards. The main purpose of this paper is therefore to analyze this psychological process from childhood to adolescence. The study was carried out with a convenience sample of children and adolescents (N = 216) from Buenos Aires, between 6 and 17 years old, who participated in an interview guided by the piagetian clinical method. Results indicate that during the appropriation process of the BJW participants reconstruct this belief to make it coherent with hypothetical deductive thinking. This is expressed in three different justifications that the individuals give to justify their BJW: immanent justice, social reciprocity and personal merit. Yet, the appropriation process is incomplete. In the majority of the adolescents a magical thinking remains, constituting a state of cognitive polyphasia expressed in oscillating answers. In conclusion, the BJW is not a previous social condition transmitted from one generation to another. Its appropriation goes beyond the mere reproduction of social beliefs and involves a conceptual reconstruction.

Conflict Resolution: The Faksoro Custom of the Rotumans of the South Pacific

AbstractGeographically, Rotuma is located at approximately 12° S latitude and 177° E longitude on the western margins of Polynesia. The island lies about 300 miles north of the Republic of Fiji. Politically, Rotuma's administration was under the authority of a district officer, who was responsible to a commissioner, and a governor in Fiji. Rotuma is a disputatious society but does not use violent means to resolve differences. There are five different conflict resolution mechanisms practiced on this island. These are the belief in immanent justice, avoidance of confrontation, mediation, arbitration courts, and the custom of faksoro. This article will focus on the faksoro custom by examining the ritual processes, understanding their cosmological meanings, and exploring their overall potency in resolving conflicts. Also implications of faksoro outside Rotuma society are discussed. My data analysis was based on re‐storying with critical examination of the faksoro custom as the “ritual apology” of the indigenous people of Rotuma in the South Pacific.

Through the looking glass: Focusing on long‐term goals increases immanent justice reasoning

Immanent justice reasoning involves causally attributing a negative event to someone's prior moral failings, even when such a causal connection is physically implausible. This study examined the degree to which immanent justice represents a form of motivated reasoning in the service of satisfying the need to believe in a just world. Drawing on a manipulation that has been shown to activate justice motivation, participants causally attributed a freak accident to a man's prior immoral (vs. moral) behaviour to a greater extent when they first focused on their long-term (vs. short-term) goals. These findings highlight the important function believing in a just world plays in self-regulatory processes by implicating the self in immanent justice reasoning about fluke events in the lives of others.

Belief in a Just World, Religiosity and Victim Blaming

This study investigates the relations between “Belief in a Just World” (BJW), religiosity and victim-blaming attitudes. In particular, the influence of BJW and religiosity on social attitudes is probed. Recent theoretical and psychometric developments in the BJW construct are considered. Thus, 176 Turkish subjects completed measures for BJW-Self (BJW-S)/BJW-Other (BJW-O), “Belief in Immanent/Ultimate Justice,” attitudes towards the poor, and religiosity. Results show that Belief in Ultimate Justice and BJW-S are uniquely related to religiosity. As hypothesized, BJW-O and Belief in Immanent Justice are strongly related to harsh attitudes towards the poor. However, contrary to our expectation, results do not indicate a positive link between religiosity and negative attitudes towards the poor. Study findings also provide strong cross-cultural support for the conceptual and psychometric revisions of the Just-World construct (BJW-S/BJW-O and Immanent/Ultimate Justice).

Child and Adolescent Development for Medical Learners: Developmental Perspectives of Emotions and Illness

Abstract This module, Developmental Perspectives of Emotions and Illness, discusses the impact of development on a child's understanding and experience of illness. Cognitive developmental influence...

What Goes Around Comes Around: The Evolutionary Roots of the Belief in Immanent Justice

AbstractThe belief in immanent justice is the expectation that the universe is designed to ensure that evil is punished and virtue rewarded. What makes this belief so ‘natural’? Here, we suggest that this intuition of immanent justice derives from our evolved sense of fairness. In cases where a misdeed is followed by a misfortune, our sense of fairness construes the misfortune as a way to compensate for the misdeed. To test this hypothesis, we designed a set of studies in which we show that people who do not believe in immanent justice are nonetheless implicitly influenced by intuitions of immanent justice. Strikingly, this effect disappears when the misfortune is disproportionate compared to the misdeed: In this case, justice is not restored and participants lose the intuition of immanent justice. Following recent theories of religion, we suggest that this intuition contributes to the cultural success of beliefs in immanent justice.