Lecture Notes: Just World Hypothesis

Introduction & Common Phrases

Phrases implying consequences
- Examples: "You got what you deserved," "You got what was coming to you," and "You reap what you sow"
- Implies predictable and appropriate results or consequences for actions.

Concept: Noble actions are rewarded, and evil acts are punished.
Illustration:
- Example: Tom helps an old lady cross the road (noble act) → Reward
- Example: Tom performs an evil act → Punishment
Underlying Belief: A special force or cosmic justice ensures good deeds are rewarded and bad deeds are punished.

Helps rationalize good fortune or misfortune of others.
Helps individuals feel they can influence the world predictably.
- Example: Hard work leads to achieving goals and rewards.

Reality: Good deeds aren't always rewarded, and evil deeds aren't always punished.
Examples of Misattribution:
- Blaming people in poverty for being poor.
- Blaming victims of domestic violence for their situation.

Rational Techniques:
- Accept reality.
- Prevent or correct injustice through actions like setting up charities, legal systems, and petitions.
Irrational Techniques:
- Denial: Refusing to accept a situation exists.
- Reinterpretation: Modifying perception of events, their causes, or the character of victims.
  - Example: Minimizing the severity of an assault.
  - Example: Blaming the victim for being in a tough neighborhood or associating with the wrong crowd.

Understanding Behavior: How we explain the behavior of others.
- Internal Causes: Individual's disposition and personal factors.
- External Causes: Situational factors.
Bias in Just World Hypothesis: Over-attribution of actions to personal or dispositional factors and under-recognition of complex situational factors.
- Example: Attributing poverty to personal failings rather than environmental or social pressures.