Unfair Situations

Question 1

What is Belief in a Just World (BJW) Theory?
-Lerner 1977

(Children form a personal contract around 4-5 years old)

Answer 1

investment in goals is only worthwhile if people get what they deserve

Basis of a personal contract between the individual and social world

delayed gratification

Principle of deservingness

Question 2

What theory relates to how we find ways to delegate blame to “innocent victims” to alleviate that threat. Identifying a way the victim deserved the negative outcomes.

Answer 2

Belief in a Just World Theory

Question 2

Is Belief in a Just World Theory
unconscious, implicit assumption
or
conscious, reflective belief

Answer 2

Belief in a Just World Theory
unconscious, implicit assumption

we try and cognitively rationalise the situation when things dont match up

Question 2

What is the term used to describe
a causal attribution
where an individual’s suffering is attributed to their prior failings or immoral character?

(Bad outcomes should happen to bad people)
-people get what they deserve

Answer 2

Immanent Justice Reasoning (IJR)

-leads to victim blaming
-still happens even when the suffering was not directly caused by the individual’s prior actions

Question 2

Name threats to BJW:

Answer 2

Most salient (important) threats to BJW =

When someone experiences undeserved suffering or misfortune.

We see it as none deserving because they were a good person

Question 2

Immanent Justice Reasoning (IJR) is part of what type of strategy to restore BJW?

Answer 2

Non-rational strategies

Question 2

Research shows that people are more likely to work towards fairness for others when…

Answer 2

They themselves have received unfair treatment

suggesting people are responsive to the fate of others- determining the fairness of the world they living

Just world is the desired (and assumed) outcome. And, we react to situations that violate this assumption

Question 2

Name the 2 types of Strategies to Restore BJW:

Answer 2

1-Rational strategies

2-Non-rational strategies

Question 2

What is the term used to describe when misfortune strikes people truly undeserving of it?

Silver lining aspect
Any underserved episode of suffering is compensated with a positive outcome (i.e., a silver lining) in the long run.

Answer 2

Ultimate Justice Reasoning (UJR)

Perceiving a silver lining from suffering
(this war is going to build better social bonds)

Question 3

Strategies to Restore BJW:
Rational strategies

Answer 3

Ultimate Justice Reasoning (UJR)

Supporting social welfare programmes and policies
Helping the VICTIM

Preferred strategy when actions remove the injustice

Question 3

Strategies to Restore BJW:
Non-rational strategies

Answer 3

Victim BLAMING

Immanent Justice Reasoning (IJR)
b=b

Question 3

Evidence for Ultimate Justice Reasoning
(silver lining/ positive outcome)

Findings?

Answer 3

Anderson et al. (2010; study 1) people compensate for tragedy by finding a silver lining for the victim.

Question 3

Evidence for Immanent Justice Reasoning (Bad outcomes should happen to bad people)

Callan et al. (2013) examined the impact of long-term (vs. short-term) goal activation on engagement in IJR.

Findings?

Answer 3

An interaction occurred between past behaviour with bad character

Attributing past behaviour to bad event happening

This enhanced long-term goals
Increases the likelihood of engaging in IJR after BJW has been threatened

Question 4

When do people engage in IMJ and blame the victim to restore BJW?

Answer 4

I the victim is seen as a bad person, deserving of their suffering

Question 5

Study on both of IJR & UJR

Hypothesis suggested
those scoring highly on IJR will victim blame where as those with high UJR will positively evaluate misfortunes of victims in the future

Findings?

Answer 5

Found a strong interaction between
-type of justice reasoning and
-victims moral character

P rated bad victims with Immanence Justice
P rated good victims with Ultimate Justice

Question 5

Uncertainty Management Theory:
Personal uncertainty
is self-doubt or instability in our views about ourselves or place in the world.

What do we do to try and avoid this?

Answer 5

adhere to cultural worldviews (norms, values) to provide a sense of stability in an otherwise uncertain world.

personal uncertainty is an aversive experience (we would rather avoid).

Question 6

Wen do people engage in UJR to restore BJW and believe the victim will be compensated with positive outcomes in the long run?

Answer 6

If the victim is innocent, and underserving

Question 6

Uncertainty Management Theory:
Personal uncertainty
is self-doubt or instability in our views about ourselves or place in the world.

What do we do to try and avoid this?

Answer 6

We adhere to cultural worldviews
(norms, values)
to provide a sense of stability

Personal uncertainty is an aversive experience (we would rather avoid).

Question 7

Van den Bos (2001; experiment 3) found that when personal uncertainty is made salient (important)…

Answer 7

people will have stronger emotional reactions to violations of fairness

Question 8

Van den Bos et al. (2006; experiment 2)

Do heightened feelings of personal uncertainty result in greater cultural worldview defense?

Answer 8

more religious participants reacted more strongly to the article that challenged their religious beliefs
BUT
this reaction was heightened when uncertainty was made salient (important).

Question 8

To manage feelings of personal uncertainty, what do people adhere more strongly to?

Answer 8

BJW (Belief in a Just World)

If personal uncertainty enhances BJW, then people will engage in more strategies that restore BJW when they encounter situations that challenge BJW.

Question 8

Does BJW and personal uncertainty result in greater victim blaming?

Answer 8

Yes,
when people feel more personal uncertainty,
they evaluate a victim more negatively
then when they feel personally certain

Question 8

Which theory describes the way we
manage the paralyzing fear of death, by embracing cultural worldviews.

Answer 8

Terror Management Theory

-offers literal immortality
or symbolic immortality
(e.g., investment in future generations).

Question 8

Terror Management Theory:

(heaven/ hell, karma/ reincarnation)
links to which immortality?

Answer 8

Literal immortality

Question 8

Terror Management Theory:

(something you create its meaning is intended to live on for ever. Eg. an authors work will be talked about after his death)
links to which immortality?

Answer 8

Symbolic immortality

Question 8

Terror Management Theorists argue we seek protection by re-affirming/ defending our cultural worldviews.

When we are reminded of our mortality,
what do we do?

Answer 8

Engage in world defense

-World defense
engagement in thoughts or behaviours defending validity of cultural worldviews against threat
strengthening affiliation to the in-group.

Question 8

Do people prefer ingroup members more after mortality salience because of their group membership
or
perceived similarity in attitudes?

Mortality salience manipulated

Answer 8

Mortality salience increases affiliation to ingroup.

So a deviant ingroup member may be tolerated when not talking about death

Mortality salience participants – ratings for outgroup member dependent on attitude. Ingroup member rated similarly regardless of attitude.

Question 8

What is Mortality salience?

Answer 8

The awareness by individuals that their death is inevitable

Question 8

Is there an interaction between uncertainty management and belief in a justworld?

Answer 8

Yes, when people are reminded of their mortality, they evaluate negatively towards people who are OUTGROUP members and hold opposing views.

BJW ma stabilise worldviews (reducing personal uncertainty).

Question 8

Which theory describes an individuals predisposition to perceive hierarchal and dominant structures?

Group-based inequality =
maintained through
- Institutional discrimination (black vs white)

-Behavioural asymmetry
(minorities favour members of dominant group. Preference/ positive bias of their ingroup)

Answer 8

Social Dominance Theory

Question 8

Minorities favouring members of dominant group

Preference/ positive bias of their ingroup

are examples of?

Answer 8

Behavioural asymmetry

Question 8

An SDO Scale regarding the perceived social status to measure ingroup preference/ biases found?

Answer 8

Participants are aware of their group and other group’s position/
identity of the individual

which impacted their social dominance orientation scale scores
1-whites

Question 8

What does An SDO Scale measure?

Answer 8

Social Dominance Orientation

Question 8

SDO Scales show:

Participants showed greater empathy-related brain activity when observing individuals who were perceived as

belonging to their own or different
social group
and of higher or lower status

Answer 8

Greater empathy belonging to their own group/
higher status (Behavioural asymmetry)

Question 8

SDO Scales examined the relationship between social class and empathy:

Which class exhibited greater empathy and prosocial behaviour?

Answer 8

lower social classes showed
-greater empathy and prosocial behaviour
compared to higher classes

Question 8

SDO Scales show:

lower subjective social status and worse national-level inequality are related to?

Answer 8

greater self-reported morality.

Question 8

Are People are very attuned to their position in hierarchies?

Answer 8

Yes, individual/group position can impact how you perceive the world.

Question 9

Something maintained through
- Institutional discrimination (black vs white) is known as?

Answer 9

Group-based inequality