title: The Effects of General System Justification on Corruption Perception and Intent.
abstract: Previous research stresses that system justifying belief can weaken corruption perception, by this possibly fostering unjust behaviors. However, general results of the effect of general system justification on corruption are ambiguous, indicating also a lessening impact. We conducted a line of studies trying to elucidate these circumstances by testing the effect of general system justification on corruption perception and intention. In addition, we explored institutional trust as a possible mediator in this process. For this purpose, we conducted three studies. The first two studies examined the association between general system justification and corruption. In Study 1, a correlational design was run using questionnaires to assess the relation between general system justification and corruption perception as well as corruption intention. In Study 2, an experimental design was conducted manipulating general system justification via exposure to high or low system threat condition, then measuring its effect on corruption perception and corrupt intention. In Study 3, two sub-studies using correlational and experimental designs were run to explore the mediating role of institutional trust, respectively. Results replicated former studies showing that general system justification is negatively associated with corruption perception. However, they also showed a negative correlation with corrupt intention. Furthermore, they showed that institutional trust mediated the relation between general system justification and corruption. We suggest to consider these findings to further elucidate the psychological basis underlying different effects of general system justification on human behaviors.
authors: Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal UniversityBeijing, China; Institute of Sociology, Chinese Academy of Social SciencesBeijing, China.
authors: Xuyun
authors: X
authors: Tan
authors: Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors: Li
authors: L
authors: Liu
authors: Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors: Zhenwei
authors: Z
authors: Huang
authors: Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors: Wenwen
authors: W
authors: Zheng
authors: Beijing Key Lab of Applied Experimental Psychology, School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University Beijing, China.
authors: Yuan
authors: Y
authors: Liang
keywords: corrupt intention; corruption perception; general system justification; institutional trust; system justification theory