Living in a Social World
Psy 324: Advanced Social Psychology
Spring, 1998

Belief in a Just World for the Self as it Relates to Depression, Stress, and Psychological Well-Being
By
John Neal

    As discussed in our introduction, a belief in a just world is centered around the idea that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get. This belief can be used by individuals to justify the notion that they deserve what they have and condemn others as deserving of their misfortunes as a means to maintain order and stability in their social world. Consequently, it has been hypothesized that those who have a low belief in a just world will view their world more pessimistically, and therefore, be more depressed, more stressed, and enjoy life less. [photo courtesy of Shaw]

    Now that you have a basic understanding of some of the dynamics of a belief in a just world, a more in-depth analysis is presented. This section is focused on determining if there is utility in distinguishing between a belief in a just world for the self versus others, and if so, what are the implications? Keep this distinction in mind, the contrast between a belief in a just world as it applies to how people view their world for themselves versus whether or not people believe the world to be just for others, because it is the focus of much of the research that is discussed here.

    Belief in a just world (BJW) has originally been measured by Rubin and Peplau's (1975) BJW scale. Yet many researchers have questioned the unidimensionality of this scale (e.g., Ambrosio, Sheenan, McDevitt, Rathbun & Retzlaff, 1989; Messick, Bloom, Boldizar & Samuelson, 1985). For example, the scale created be Rubin and Peplau (1975) has been charged as only measuring a global belief in a just world. What if some people feel the world is just in one domain of life but not the other? What if individuals feel that the world is just for themselves but not for others, or vice-versa? A global scale might miss out on subtle distinctions in how people perceive the world as being just. Consequently, a recent study by Lipkus, Dalbert & Siegler (1996) addresses this issue in how a separate scale for BJW for the self, versus others, may prove useful.

    The following are the questions from the Lipkus et al., (1996) study in which BJW is distinguished for the self as opposed to BJW for others and the global BJW measures. Take a minute to go through these eight questions and indicate whether you tend to agree or disagree with the questions. Keep in mind that you already have a basic understanding of the just world theory, and therefore, the questions won't have the same validity since you are aware of what is being measured. Consequently, the questions are merely provided as a tool for understanding how belief in a just world for the self was measured. Due to this fact, try to be as objective as you can.

(mark "Y" or "N" in the blank)

    Now scroll back up, scan your answers, and see whether your answers reflect a strong, weak, or moderate belief in a just world (BJW) for the self. The more "yes" responses, the higher the BJW. Stay aware of this distinction when the implications of a BJW for the self, as opposed to others, are discussed next.

    In addition to trying to distinguish between BJW for the self and others, Lipkus et al., (1996) hypothesized that a higher BJW would correlate negatively with depression and stress and positively with life satisfaction. They believed that these correlations would be stronger for the "self BJW" in contrast to the "others BJW." Finally, they examined whether or not there were correlations between the "big 5" personality dimensions of neuroticism, extraversion, openess, agreeableness, and conscientiousness and psychological well-being and a belief in a just world for the self. [photo courtesy of Amgmedia]

    The results of this study demonstrate that BJW for the self more powerfully and consistently correlates with self-reports of depression, stress, and life satisfaction than any of the other BJW correlations (such as the BJW for others). Therefore, there may be some utility in distinguishing between a BJW for self and for others. It seems that "individuals who strongly believe in a just world cope more adaptively with negative life events, experience less negative affect, and report more positive affect than individuals with a weaker BJW" (Lipkus et al., 1996, p.666).

    In addition, Lipkus et al (1996) found that traditional global measures of a BJW had weak correlations with the "big 5" personality dimensions, but the BJW for the self proved much more useful. Those participants, who scored high for just world for the self, reported that they felt less neurotic and more emotionally stable, extraverted, and open. Interestingly though, when these five personality dimensions (neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openess, and conscientiousness) were included in the measures of BJW for the self the correlations between stress were virtually eliminated and the correlations with depression were weakened. Nevertheless, BJW for the self continued to correlate strongly with life satisfaction, regardless of the inclusion of the personality dimensions. Consequently, the authors state that future research should be sensitive to and examine more specific components of well-being and BJW to help explain this finding.

    Another study by Ritter, Benson, and Synder (1990) has looked at depression and belief in a just world also. In addition to these factors, they included the concept of mastery as a variable. Mastery, also referred to as locus of control, is the amount of control that people perceive themselves as having over the events that effect their lives. Those individuals who perceive that they have little control over the outcomes in their lives may experience more stress and depression than those who have a high perception of mastery. Relatedly, take a look at how people with depression often tend to seek negative feedback which may further contribute to their feelings of having little control in life. Ritter et al., (1990) concluded that belief in a just world was indeed negatively correlated with depression, but overall, mastery was the strongest predictor of depression. Interestingly though, they found that belief in a just world correlated extremely weakly with mastery!

    In addition, this study addresses something that has been a confound in many BJW studies, which is the gender variable. While gender was included as a variable in the Ritter et al., (1990) study, any results indicating differences are not significant. In Lipkus's (1996) study he found that men tended to believe the world to be more just than women did. Furthermore, this study found that there is a greater gender discrepancy between a BJW for self than there was in the BJW for others. In conclusion, the appearance of significant gender differences for a BJW often depend on the research methodology used and are not widely understood enough to make reliable conclusions in general. That is why there are mixed results with many studies conclude that gender differences are inconclusive.

    So what does all this research tell us? Should we be deluding ourselves into believing that the world is a just place? Is the world a just place? Remember that a belief in a just world reflects peoples' perceptions of their world, not necessarily  the reality of it. Psychologically speaking, the BJW is really a cognitive bias that affects our subjective well-being. It has been described as a positive illusion (see Dalbert, 1992) which permits us to feel that we have more control over a situation, provides us with the opportunity for favorable self-evaluations, and helps us perceive a more positive future. Could it be possible to change our outlook on life in order to benefit from greater life satisfaction? Or is it as some researchers conclude in that a "belief in a just world does not appear to be a 'coping resource' but rather a global ideology operating much like an implicit personality theory" (Ritter el al., 1990, p. 248). Take a look at Seligman's concept of learned optimism and decide what you think. Could a belief in a just world affect your physical health? Explore how intrusive thoughts can undermine your health. [photo courtesy of Chris Moorhouse]

    In summation, a lot of research has focused on belief in a just world and many studies have provided us with useful data on the subject, but uncertainties still exist which need to be addressed in further studies. Nevertheless, it is hoped that the goal of explaining some of the distinctions of the just world hypothesis for the self has been achieved.

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References

    Ambrosio, A. L., Sheenan, E. P., McDevitt, T. M., Rathbun, L. & Retzlaff, P. D. (1989). Factor analysis of the belief in a just world scale. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association Conference, New Orleans.

    Dalbert, C. (1992). Belief in a just world as a source of subjective well-being. Paper presented at the 25th International Congress of Psychology in Brussels, Belgium.

    Lipkus, I. M., Dalbert, C., Siegler, I. C. (1996). The importance of distinguishing the belief in a just world for self versus for others: Implications for psychological well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 666-677.

    Messick, D. M., Bloom, S., Boldizar, J. P. & Samuelson, C. D. (1985). Why we are fairer than others. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 21, 480-500.

    Ritter, C., Benson, D. E., Synder, C. (1990). Belief in a just world and depression. Sociological Perspectives, 33, 235-252.

    Rubin, Z. & Peplau, L. A. (1975). Who believes in a just world? Journal of Social Issues, 31, 65-90.

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