Belief in a Just World and Right-Wing Authoritarianism as Moderators of Perceived Risk

Abstract

The preface notes that the BJW theory has become influential in social and behavioral sciences since its origins in the 1960's. An overview chapter notes that the concept arose out of efforts to explain why scientifically trained students insisted on considering poverty-stricken victims as lazy and no good while denying the evidence of their victimization by overwhelming economic changes. The explanation offered for that seemingly motivated resistance was that people need to believe that they live in an essentially just world where they can obtain what they deserve, at least in the long run. Being confronted with innocent victims of undeserved suffering threatens that basic belief. People therefore may act to eliminate injustices; may blame, reject, or avoid the victim; or may have faith that the victim will eventually receive appropriate compensation. The subsequent chapters compare immanent justice and ultimate justice as two ways of believing in justice, present results from a study of unemployment to discuss BJW and self-efficacy in coping with observed victimization, and discuss findings on how observers of victimization preserve their BJW cognitively or in action. Further chapters focus on individual difference in the BJW and responses to personal misfortune and BJW and right-wing authoritarianism as moderators of perceived risk. Chapters on analytic perspectives for assessing the concept of BJW focus on measurement, eight stages in the development of research on the topic, and research methods. The final two chapters examine past research and future research needs related to BJW. Tables, figures, chapter notes and reference lists, and index