L6 Navigating Uncertain Situations Flashcards
What is the belief in a just world theory ? Lerner 1977
The basis of personal contract between individuals and the social world
Unconscious
Implicit assumption
Desired outcome
People get what they deserve
What are threats to BJW ?
When someone experiences underserved suffering
Caught in unforeseen circumstances and suffers
Someone who is healthy gets cancer
What are the strategies to restore BJW ?
Rational strategies - support social welfare programmes, help the victim, remove injustice
Non-rational strategies - victim blaming, silver lining
What is immanent justice reasoning ?
IJR is a causal attribution
Individual suffering is attributed to their prior failings or immoral character
Results in victim blaming
What is the evidence for immanent justice reasoning ?
Callan et al 2013 - examined the impact of long term vs short term goal activation on IJR
If PS were primed to think about the future they were more likely to be fair and think about justice
They all attributed past behaviour to the car accident
What is ultimate justice reasoning ?
UJR occurs when people strike misfortune when they don’t deserve it
Underserved suffering is compensated with a silver lining
What is the evidence for UJR ?
Anderson et al 2010 - people compensate for tragedy by providing a silver lining
BJW was manipulated and they were asked to write about a footballers life with different levels of suffering
People compensated for tragedy with a silver lining
How does IJR and UJR interplay ?
Harvey and Callan 2014 - found engagement in justice reasoning depended on character of the victim
Good victim had less IJR but more UJR
Bad victim had more IJR but less UJR
What is uncertainty management theory ?
2 types of research
Individual differences in personal uncertainty
Experimental research - how people respond to challenges to views
What is uncertainty related to worldviews and fairness ?
After reminders of personal uncertainty people are more positive when supporting worldviews but more negative when challenging worldviews
What is the research into uncertainty and fairness ?
Van den Bos 2001 - when personal uncertainty is made salient people have stronger reactions
What is the research into uncertainty and worldview defence ?
Van den Bos 2006 - religious ps reacted strongly towards cultural worldwide view defence, but when uncertainty was salient they reacted even more strongly
What is uncertainty and belief in just world ?
To manage feelings of personal uncertainty people may adhere to BJW
They will then engage in more strategies that restore BJW when they encounter situations that challenge BJW
What is the research into uncertainty and BJW ?
Bal and Van den Bos 2012 - does BJW and personal uncertainty result in greater victim blaming ?
What is terror management theory ?
Innate drive for survival
Awareness of the inevitability of death
To manage the fear of death humans embrace cultural worldviews
