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Responses to Victimizations and Belief in a Just World pp 65–86Cite as

Individual Differences in the Belief in a Just World and Responses to Personal Misfortune

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Part of the Critical Issues in Social Justice book series (CISJ)

Abstract

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).

Keywords

  • Emotional Response
  • Strong Belief
  • Relative Deprivation
  • Choice Condition
  • Poor Grade

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, L2S 3A1

    Carolyn L. Hafer

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5C2

    James M. Olson

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  1. Carolyn L. Hafer
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  2. James M. Olson
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Trier, D-54286, Trier, Germany

    Leo Montada

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

    Melvin J. Lerner

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Hafer, C.L., Olson, J.M. (1998). Individual Differences in the Belief in a Just World and Responses to Personal Misfortune. In: Montada, L., Lerner, M.J. (eds) Responses to Victimizations and Belief in a Just World. Critical Issues in Social Justice. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6418-5_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-6418-5_5

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