title: Belief in a just what? Demystifying just world beliefs by distinguishing sources of justice.
abstract: People's Belief in a Just World (BJW) plays an important role in coping with misfortune and unfairness. This paper demonstrates that understanding of the BJW concept, and its consequences for behavior, is enhanced if we specify what (or who) the source of justice might be. We introduce a new scale, the 5-Dimensional Belief in a Just Treatment Scale (BJT5), which distinguishes five causal dimensions of BJW (God, Nature, Other People, Self, Chance). We confirm the 5-factor structure of the BJT5. We then address whether the BJW should be considered a uni- and/or multi-dimensional construct and find support for our multi-dimensional approach. Finally, we demonstrate convergent and discriminant validity with respect to important correlates of BJW as well as action in response to important negative life events and societal attitudes. This work illustrates the importance of distinguishing causal dimensions with regard to who distributes justice.
authors: Department of Social Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors: Katherine
authors: K
authors: Stroebe
authors: Department of Social Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors: Tom
authors: T
authors: Postmes
authors: Department of Human Resource Management & Organizational Behaviour, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors: Susanne
authors: S
authors: Täuber
authors: Department of Psychometrics & Statistics, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors: Alwin
authors: A
authors: Stegeman
authors: Department of Social Science and Policy Studies, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors: Melissa-Sue
authors: MS
authors: John
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D003415:Crime; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012067:Religion; D012935:Social Justice; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult