title: Perceptions of personal sex discrimination: the role of belief in a just world and situational ambiguity.
abstract: The roles of belief in a just world (BJW) and discrimination against ones' group in perceptions of personal discrimination were examined. Female participants (n = 63) were personally discriminated against in a laboratory setting. We manipulated whether the experimenter appeared to discriminate against other participants, which presumably made the presence of personal discrimination less ambiguous, or did not appear to discriminate against others, which presumably made personal discrimination more ambiguous. In the no group discrimination condition, but not in the group discrimination condition, participants' perceptions of being personally discriminated against depended on individual differences in BJW: Women with a strong BJW perceived less personal discrimination than those with a weak BJW. Also, strong BJW women in the group discrimination condition perceived less personal discrimination than strong BJW women in the no group discrimination condition.
authors.affiliation: Plymouth University, Department of Psychology, Drake Circus, A204 Portland Square, Plymouth PL4 8AA, UK. becky.choma@plymouth.ac.uk
authors.forename: Becky
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Choma
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hafer
authors.forename: Faye
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Crosby
authors.forename: Mindi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Foster
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D011287:Prejudice; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012935:Social Justice / Q000523:psychology*; D012938:Social Perception; D055815:Young Adult