Just-world Beliefs Research Articles

Just-World Beliefs, System Justification, and Their Relationship with People's Health-Related Well-Being: A Narrative Review.

Beliefs about a social system help people understand and evaluate their environment and are related to their behavior within a society. When people believe that they live in a just social system and develop positive attitudes about the social and political environment, they experience greater satisfaction and well-being. This phenomenon is known as a palliative effect. Two theoretical approaches that explain support for social and political systems are the beliefs in a just world and system justification approaches. The objective of this review was to analyze the literature published between 2019 and 2023 that addressed the associations of beliefs in a just world and system justification with health-related well-being. The search yielded 2064 potentially eligible articles, 26 of which were ultimately selected. The results showed that beliefs in a just world are associated with a more positive perception of the world and better health outcomes. In addition, people with a greater propensity to justify the system experience higher levels of health-related well-being. This positive association is consistently observed across different social groups and contexts. These findings support the phenomenon of palliative effects attributable to beliefs in a just world and system justification.

Fiction increases trust in Democracy: Indirect effect of security institutions effectiveness’ audiovisual representation in their perceived performance through just-world belief

Fiction increases trust in Democracy: Indirect effect of security institutions effectiveness’ audiovisual representation in their perceived performance through just-world belief

Perspective-Taking Does Not Reduce Victim Blaming in Work-Related Situations

ABSTRACT According to the just-world theory, people tend to blame innocent victims for the misfortune they experienced to preserve the belief in a just world. Our preregistered experimental study (N = 404; a university participants pool) employed work-related scenarios to test the possibility of reducing victim-blaming by taking a victim’s perspective. We also explored whether “victim-blaming” occurs for both undeserved negative and positive outcomes, i.e. attributions of blame or virtue in scenarios including demotions, dismissals, public reprimands, and removal of responsibilities as negative outcomes; and bonuses, promotions, salary raises, and job hirings as positive outcomes. We found that victim-blaming followed from the just-world belief only in scenarios where an individual gains unjust benefit. The belief in a just world could thus lead to the misattribution of positive work outcomes and could result in biased human resources management. Taking the victim’s perspective did not reduce attributions of blame and virtue. However, participants considered the outcomes more deserved when they took the perpetrator’s perspective. This finding may be a warning that if a perpetrator’s perception framework is more accessible for assessing a particular situation, the victims will be blamed more.

Just-world beliefs are associated with influenza vaccine intake intent in the United Arab Emirates: a cross-sectional study

Although not a prime public health concern, seasonal influenza remains a challenge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This problem is augmented by the fact that the percentage of the population intending to take the yearly seasonal influenza vaccine is relatively low. The purpose of this study is to assess if vaccine knowledge and just-world beliefs have an impact on willingness to receive the seasonal influenza vaccine. The methodology relies on a multivariable logistic regression analysis establishing predictors of vaccine intake intent and parametric tests comparing variables across gender and ethnicity. Results come out showing that vaccine knowledge is not a significant predictor of seasonal influenza vaccine intake intent. However, general belief in the just world is a significant predictor of vaccine intake intent. This has important implications for the role of religion in curbing seasonal influenza vaccine hesitancy in the UAE. Given that just-world beliefs are linked to religiosity, public health authorities need to consider relying on religious leaders to exhort the faithful to take the vaccines by framing their exhortations in the context of just-world beliefs.

Just World Beliefs among Medical Students and the General Public in Hawai‘i

Just World Beliefs (JWBs) are a psychological tendency to conclude the world is an inherently fair place in which people experience the outcomes they deserve. Strong JWBs positively correlate with a personal commitment to long-term ambitions and blaming people for their negative health outcomes. This study aimed to measure JWBs in medical students and the general population of Hawai‘i. It was hypothesized that (1) medical students would have stronger JWBs than the general public, and (2) JWBs would be strongest for medical students in the latter part of their training. Current residents of Hawai‘i and medical students at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa were recruited to complete a web-based survey measuring JWBs using the Global Belief in a Just World Scale. A t-test was used to compare JWB strength between the groups. A regression analysis identified factors predicting strength of JWBs. Contrary to both hypotheses, medical students in Hawai‘i possessed weaker JWBs than Hawai‘i residents (P<.01), and JWBs did not differ based on training duration (P=.97). Age (P<.01) was the only demographic variable to significantly predict JWBs. The difference in JWBs among medical and non-medical cohorts was no longer significant after controlling for age. Among medical students, younger age was associated with weaker JWBs. Future studies should explore the prevalence and effects of JWBs among diverse populations and the medical professionals that care for them.

I like it because it hurts you: On the association of everyday sadism, sadistic pleasure, and victim blaming.

Past research on determinants of victim blaming mainly concentrated on individuals' just-world beliefs as motivational process underlying this harsh reaction to others' suffering. The present work provides novel insights regarding underlying affective processes by showing how individuals prone to derive pleasure from others' suffering-individuals high in everyday sadism-engage in victim blaming due to increased sadistic pleasure and reduced empathic concern they experience. Results of three cross-sectional studies and one ambulatory assessment study applying online experience sampling method (ESM; overall N = 2,653) document this association. Importantly, the relation emerged over and above the honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness personality model (Study 1a), and other so-called dark traits (Study 1b), across different cultural backgrounds (Study 1c), and also when sampling from a population of individuals frequently confronted with victim-perpetrator constellations: police officers (Study 1d). Studies 2 and 3 highlight a significant behavioral correlate of victim blaming. Everyday sadism is related to reduced willingness to engage in effortful cognitive activity as individuals high (vs. low) in everyday sadism recall less information regarding victim-perpetrator constellations of sexual assault. Results obtained in the ESM study (Study 4) indicate that the relation of everyday sadism, sadistic pleasure, and victim blaming holds in everyday life and is not significantly moderated by interpersonal closeness to the blamed victim or impactfulness of the incident. Overall, the present article extends our understanding of what determines innocent victims' derogation and highlights emotional mechanisms, societal relevance, and generalizability of the observed associations beyond the laboratory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Role of Just-World Beliefs in Predicting Dishonest Behavior

Abstract: Belief in a just world is considered an important personal variable in studies on moral behavior. However, previous studies have found conflicting results regarding the relationship between belief in a just world and dishonest behavior. The present study examines the role of belief in a just world (for the self and others) in their tendency to engage in dishonest behavior, especially in situations highlighting attention for either the self or others. The results indicated that the belief in a just world for others (other-BJW) positively predicted dishonest behavior, whereas the belief in a just world for self (self-BJW) did not. However, the present study also found that the association between other-BJW and dishonesty disappeared when participants’ attention was focused on themselves. Based on these results, we suggest that future studies explore the potential mediating effects of moral disengagement.

Race, Ethnicity, and Belief in a Just World: Implications for Chronic Pain Acceptance Among Individuals with Chronic Low Back Pain

Chronic pain acceptance is a psychological process consistently linked with improved functional outcomes. However, existing research on this construct has not considered the role of racial or ethnic background, despite growing evidence of racialized disparities in pain experience and treatment. This study aimed to examine racial differences in chronic pain acceptance, as measured by the chronic pain acceptance questionnaires (CPAQ), in a multicultural sample of individuals with chronic low back pain (N = 137–37.2% White, 31.4% Hispanic, and 31.4% Black/African American). We further sought to examine moderating effects of discrimination, pain-related perceived injustice (PI), and just world belief (JWB). Analyses consisted of cross-sectional one-way analyses of variance with Bonferroni-corrected post hoc comparisons, followed by regression models with interaction terms, main effects, and relevant covariates. Results indicated higher scores on the CPAQ for White individuals compared to Black or Hispanic individuals. Significant interactions were noted between race/ethnicity and JWB in predicting pain acceptance, after controlling for demographic and pain-related variables, such that the positive association between JWB and pain acceptance was significant for White participants only. Race/ethnicity did not show significant interactions with PI or prior racial discrimination. Findings highlight racial differences in levels of chronic pain acceptance, an adaptive pain coping response, and a stronger JWB appears to have a positive impact on pain acceptance for White individuals only. Results further confirm that members of disadvantaged racial groups may be more susceptible to poorer pain adjustment, which is the result of complex, multi-level factors. PerspectiveThis study identifies racial differences in levels of pain acceptance, an adaptive psychological response to chronic pain, such that White individuals with chronic low back pain demonstrate higher levels of pain acceptance. The article further explores the impacts of intrapersonal and sociocultural variables on racial differences in pain acceptance.

The Effect of Just-World Beliefs on Cyberaggression: A Moderated Mediation Model.

(1) Background: To examine the relationship among just-world beliefs, self-control, and cyberaggression among college students. (2) Methods: A total of 1133 college students were surveyed using the just-world belief scale, self-control scale, and cyberaggression scale. (3) Results: The results showed that college students with low levels of belief in justice frequently showed cyberaggression; belief in a just world directly and negatively predicted cyberaggression, and indirectly predicted student cyberaggression through self-control; gender moderated the indirect effect of self-control on cyberaggression and the direct effect of belief in a just world on cyberaggression. (4) Conclusions: Belief in a just world significantly and negatively predicts cyberaggression; self-control has an indirect significant effect on cyberaggression; the direct effect of belief in a just world on cyberaggression and the mediating effect of self-control on this association are moderated by gender.

Hope, Belief in Just World and Trust in Government: An Interaction Amidst Covid-19 Pandemic in India.

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.

Just-word beliefs and community-level abortion stigma: An exploratory survey

ObjectivesThis study aimed to evaluate whether belief in a just world is associated with community-level abortion stigma. Study designFrom December 2020 to 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. ResultsThe 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). ConclusionsAfter controlling for demographic characteristics, strong just-world beliefs were associated with higher community-level abortion stigma. ImplicationsUnderstanding just-world beliefs may provide a potential target for stigma-reduction strategies.

Just world beliefs and altruistic behaviors of college studentsduring the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of empathy.

Altruistic behavior is of great significance for individual happiness and social development. The study has focused on the influence of two factors at the individual level on college students' altruistic behavior. The self-report questionnaires of 2,272 college students on belief in a just world, empathy and altruistic behavior were investigated. The results of the study found that: 1) Just-world belief and empathy both positively predicted altruistic behavior; 2) Empathy influenced altruistic behavior through just-world belief. And from the perspective of motivation theory, it explains that individuals affirm that altruistic behavior will bring spiritual pleasure, so individuals will maintain the consistency of their own internal factors to promote altruistic behavior.This study enriches the research value of altruistic behavior at the individual level and provides an empirical basis for the cultivation of altruistic behavior at the individual level.

Why We Derogate Victims and Demonize Perpetrators: the Influence of Just-World Beliefs and the Characteristics of Victims and Perpetrators

Why We Derogate Victims and Demonize Perpetrators: the Influence of Just-World Beliefs and the Characteristics of Victims and Perpetrators

Personal Relative Deprivation, Altruistic behaviour and Reciprocity Towards Strangers: Mediating Role of Belief in Just World

Background. The present study was conducted to explore the role of personal relative deprivation as a predictor of altruistic behavior and reciprocity towards strangers. Moreover, the mediating role of belief in just world about others was also assessed. Method. The sample (N = 510) comprised of students (male = 144; female = 366) with ages ranging from 18 to 42 years (M = 22.9; SD = 4.2) from different universities of Pakistan. Results. Results revealed that personal relative deprivation and belief in just world about others positively predicted altruistic behavior and reciprocity towards strangers. Furthermore, it was also discovered that belief in just world about others mediates the relationship between predicting variable i.e. personal relative deprivation and outcome variables i.e. altruistic behavior and reciprocity. Conclusion. Inculcating altruistic behavior can aid communities and governments in developing more effective campaigns centered on encouraging prosocial behavior towards strangers.

The relationship between social support and goal pursuit among Chinese college students: The mediating role of 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.

Association of personality with habituation of physical and non-physical activities among Japanese adults: Results from questionnaire research before COVID-19 pandemic.

Physical activity has benefits for public health as it reduces the risk of non-communicable diseases and improves the quality of life. Previous studies have shown that health conditions, lifestyle, and socioeconomic status influence one's tendency to engage in physical activity. However, the influence of psychological traits on engagement in physical activity is not yet fully understood. In this study, we explored personality traits associated with the habituation of physical activity and compared them with personality traits associated with the habituation of non-physical activity. We recruited 1600 Japanese adult volunteers and conducted an online survey just before the spread of COVID-19. We collected data for the prevalence of physical and non-physical activities, and various aspects of personality traits including the Big Five personality traits, sensitivity to behavioral activation, dark triad personality, levels of internal locus of control, and the degree of just-world belief. The results demonstrated that high levels of extraversion, sensitivity to behavioral activation, and an internal locus of control had a positive influence on the habituation of physical activity. Moreover, our results were contradictory as they also showed that high levels of openness, sensitivity to behavioral activation, and just world belief related to the habituation of non-physical activity. These results suggest that the personality traits that influenced the habituation of activities depend on the characteristics of the activity and reveal extraversion and internal locus of control as the personality traits specific to the habituation of physical activity. This study was supported by Senryakuteki-kenkyu from Chukyo University, a Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists (Grant No. 19 K20650 and 22 K13880), the Promotion of Joint International Research (Grant No. 20KK0054). This work was also supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas "Construction of the Face-Body Studies in Transcultural Conditions" (Grant No. 17H06342).

General and personal just-world beliefs, gratitude, forgiveness, and cooperativeness: A multiple mediation model

Belief in a just world (BJW) may influence cooperation, but it is unclear whether general and personal BJW (GBJW and PBJW) have the same impact on cooperativeness in collectivistic cultures as it does in individualistic ones. The present study explored the relationships between GBJW, PBJW, cooperativeness, gratitude, and forgiveness to determine the effect of BJW on cooperativeness and explore possible mediating mechanisms. Data was obtained from self-report questionnaires completed by Chinese university students. The structural equation model with 574 effective questionnaires showed that GBJW positively and PBJW negatively predicted cooperativeness, and gratitude partially mediated these relationships. The results imply that the functions of GBJW and PBJW of Chinese people are different from those in Western cultures. These might indicate the discrepancies in collectivistic and individualistic cultures. The current study adds substantially to our understanding of the adaptive functions of GBJW and PBJW and emphasises the importance of distinguishing between both functions in different cultures.

Was she wearing red? The function of victim-blaming in women's intrasexual competition.

Previous research indicates that women frequently use red clothing to signal their sexual receptivity, with men and women both recognizing this as a reliable cue to such receptivity. Nonetheless, receptivity cues can inform perceptions of women's culpability for experiencing sexual assault. Thus, women experiencing sexual assault could become more of a target for victim-blaming if assaulted while wearing red. Such victim-blaming could be especially apparent especially among those who believe the world is just. The current study presented a sexual assault vignette to American undergraduates (155 women, 66 men) describing a woman wearing either red or green whom participants evaluated for the degree of culpability she has for the assault. Results indicated that the red-wearing target was viewed as more culpable for the assault, particularly for women with heightened just-world beliefs. We frame results from an evolutionary framework considering victim-blaming as part of women's intrasexual competition.

Schadenfreude for undeserved misfortunes: The unexpected consequences of endorsing a strong belief in a just world

When witnessing misfortunes, people sometimes react with schadenfreude—malicious pleasure at another's suffering. Previous research suggests that schadenfreude is elicited for competitors and envied targets, or when misfortunes seem deserved. Six experiments (five pre-registered, Ntotal = 3324) support a novel hypothesis that perceivers feel greater schadenfreude for social targets who endorse a strong general belief in a just world (BJW), even when misfortunes occur outside of the typical conditions that elicit schadenfreude. Experiments 1–2 show that people feel schadenfreude at the accidental misfortune of a person who expresses strong BJW, based in part on their misfortune seeming more deserved. Experiment 3 demonstrates the same effect for a wealthy, strong-BJW target who suffers a life-changing misfortune. In Experiment 4, we demonstrate that perceivers infer stronger BJW from a wealthy (vs. poor) person and that these inferences lead to increased perceptions that the misfortune was deserved, resulting in greater schadenfreude. Finally, Experiments 5–6 show that the effect of target BJW on schadenfreude via perceived deservingness is moderated by a target's financial status, such that endorsing strong BJW is particularly consequential for wealthy and middle-income targets. We conclude that even when people are not responsible for their predicaments, perceivers believe the misfortunes of people with strong just-world beliefs are more fitting and therefore derive more pleasure at their expense. The current research builds on and extends both schadenfreude and just-world belief literatures by documenting a unique antecedent of schadenfreude based on perceivers' inferences or knowledge regarding how someone generally views their world.

Triangulation of Belief in Just World (BJW), Contentment with Life (CWL) and Employee Retention (ER)

The focus on the belief system of employees and workers in organizations, as it is a hidden and under the radar system that actually creates a huge impact on the performance of an employee as well as on organizational performance. It is postulated that those who believe that the world is unjust,may try to be unjust with the world i.e., the people around them, and vice versa. We developed a theoretical framework and then collected data based on the hypothesized relationship. SPSS 21 was employed to run various tests to carry out the analysis. The target population was store/shop managers and a sample of 222 was selected as respondents. After analysis, results show great insights, as based on those perceptions having belief in a just world may have better contentment with life and they may be retained in the organization.Thus, employee retention may lead further to better organizational performance and culture. It was found that both the hypotheses were accepted and this study can have great theoretical and practical implications for the researchers and for the practitioners in organizations as well