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

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Responses to Victimizations and Belief in a Just World

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

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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

Authors
  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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© 1998 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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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

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-3306-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-6418-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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