A quarter century of system justification theory: Questions, answers, criticisms, and societal applications
Abstract
A theory of system justification was proposed 25 years ago by Jost and Banaji (1994, Br. J. Soc. Psychol., 33, 1) in the British Journal of Social Psychology to explain ‘the participation by disadvantaged individuals and groups in negative stereotypes of themselves' and the phenomenon of outgroup favouritism. The scope of the theory was subsequently expanded to account for a much wider range of outcomes, including appraisals of fairness, justice, legitimacy, deservingness, and entitlement; spontaneous and deliberate social judgements about individuals, groups, and events; and full‐fledged political and religious ideologies. According to system justification theory, people are motivated (to varying degrees, depending upon situational and dispositional factors) to defend, bolster, and justify aspects of existing social, economic, and political systems. Engaging in system justification serves the palliative function of increasing satisfaction with the status quo and addresses underlying epistemic, existential, and relational needs to reduce uncertainty, threat, and social discord. This article summarizes the major tenets of system justification theory, reviews some of the empirical evidence supporting it, answers new (and old) questions and criticisms, and highlights areas of societal relevance and directions for future research.
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Terror management theory converges with system justification theory on the point that maintenance of worldview is the fundamental component of anxiety buffering system and defense mechanisms.
“Terror management theory converges with system justification theory on the point that maintenance of worldview is the fundamental component of anxiety buffering system and defense mechanisms (Landau et al., 2009): “anxiety buffering function” of worldviews proposed by terror management theory (Greenberg et al., 1997, p. 67) and the “palliative function of system justification” proposed by system”
According to system justification theory, people exhibit system‐justifying tendencies to defend and rationalize existing social, economic, and political arrangements, sometimes at the expense of individual and collective self‐interest.
“According to system justification theory, “people exhibit system‐justifying tendencies to defend and rationalize existing social, economic, and political arrangements, sometimes at the expense of individual and collective self‐interest” (Jost, 2019, p. 263).”
This finding is compatible with social system justification theory and further confirms the anxiety buffering and worldview defense hypothesis of terror management theory.
“This finding is not only compatible with the social system justification theory, which proposes that powerlessness fosters legitimation of inequality and increases system justification even when inequality in the system was made explicitly salient (Jost, 2019; Jost et al., 2003) but also further confirms the anxiety buffering and worldview defense hypothesis of terror management theory, which pos”
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“This is consistent with the notion that conservatism is an ideology that seeks to maintain the status quo and that rightists, more than leftists, perceive existing social and economic inequalities as legitimate and desirable (Jost et al., 2003a,b, 2004, 2009, 2017b).”
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“What is remarkable tome is that disadvantaged groups – such asmembers of theworking class – subscribe to the legitimacy of the status quo asmuch as they do (Jost, 2017; see also Manstead, 2018).”
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“This is precisely why I argue that challenging the system– and pushing for social change – aggravates feelings of uncertainty and threat and triggers backlash (Hennes et al., 2012; Jost & Hunyady, 2005; Jost et al., 2008a, 2017b).”
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“This finding is important because it speaks to a major difference between just world and system justification theories (Jost & van der Toorn, 2012). Whereas Lerner (1980) argued that genuine concerns for justice (inspired by the ‘justice motive’) should be positively associated with the belief in a just Figure 8.”
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- Authors
- Jost, J. T.
- Affiliations
- New York University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Jost, John T.
- ORCID
- Jost, John T.
- Venue
- British Journal of Social Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2018-11-28
- Volume
- 58
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 263-314
- ISSN
- 0144-6665 (ISSN-L)
- 2044-8309
- OpenAlex
- W2902850069
- Cited by
- 567
- References
- 15
- Citations by year
- 2026: 68 · 2025: 101 · 2024: 81 · 2023: 100 · 2022: 69 · 2021: 68 · 2020: 56 · 2019: 20 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 83.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- British Journal of Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (BCS‐1627691)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Power and Status Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion
- Keywords
- system justification theory, self-serving bias, negative stereotypes, political ideology, religious ideology, legitimacy, entitlement, uncertainty reduction, societal applications
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