Assessing personal and general belief in a just world: Adaptation of a scale to the Brazilian context

Abstract

© 2018, Fundacion para el Avance de la Psicologia. All rights reserved. This article aims to adapt the Belief in a Just World Scale to the Brazilian context, providing evidence of its reliability and factorial validity. Two studies were carried out in virtual environments. Study 1 aimed at knowledge of the measure’s factorial structure and its reliability. Its participants were 300 individuals with a mean age of 26.4 years (61.3 % females), who satisfied the scale and demographic requirements. The results indicated a 2-component structure: personal belief in a just world [7 items, eigenvalue = 4.42, and Cronbach’s alpha (α) of .83], and general belief in a just world (6 items, eigenvalue = 1.67, and α = .69). Study 2 aimed to confirm the previous 2-factor structure. Its participants were 331 individuals with a mean age of 27.1 years (64.4 % females). The fit indices supported the 2-factor model [GFI = .92, CFI = .91, and RMSEA = .07 (CI90 % = .05-.08)] , which showed acceptable reliability coefficients (α = .82 and .71, respectively). In conclusion, the findings support evidence for the factorial validity and reliability of this measure, which can be used in future studies in Brazil.