The Impact of Endorsing the Belief in a Just World on Social Judgments

The Social Utility and Social Desirability of Just-World Beliefs for Self and for Others

Bibliographic Data

ID5338979
AuthorsBenoît Testé (Centre de recherche cerveau et cognition), Samantha Perrin (Université de Rennes)
Year2013
Volume44
Issue3
Pages209-218
Publication date2013-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1864-9335 • E-ISSN: 2151-2590
PublisherHogrefe Publishing Group (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1027/1864-9335/a000105
OpenAlexW2098046036
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited47

The present research examines the social value attributed to endorsing the belief in a just world for self (BJW-S) and for others (BJW-O) in a Western society. We conducted four studies in which we asked participants to assess a target who endorsed BJW-S vs. BJW-O either strongly or weakly. Results showed that endorsement of BJW-S was socially valued and had a greater effect on social utility judgments than it did on social desirability judgments. In contrast, the main effect of endorsement of BJW-O was to reduce the target's social desirability. The results also showed that the effect of BJW-S on social utility is mediated by the target's perceived individualism, whereas the effect of BJW-S and BJW-O on social desirability is mediated by the target's perceived collectivism

Collectivism · Economics · Individualism · Just-world hypothesis · Microeconomics · Political science · Social desirability · Social value orientations · Cultural Differences and Values · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology

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