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Cited by 251Social and Intergroup PsychologyPsychology of Moral and Emotional JudgmentSocial Power and Status Dynamics

Investment in Long-Term Goals and Commitment to Just Means Drive the Need to Believe in a Just World

Hafer, Carolyn L.·2000·Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
DOI 10.1177/01461672002611004
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Abstract

The author hypothesized that the less one focuses on long-term goals, or the less one plans to achieve goals through just means, the less essential is the belief in a just world (BJW) and the less one will work at maintaining this belief when it is threatened. In Studies 1 and 2, participants’ focus on long-term investments was either manipulated or measured, and their reactions to a victim who presented a high or low threat to the BJW were assessed. In Study 2, the tendency to obtain goals through unjust means (delinquency) also was measured. As predicted, strong long-term focus and low-delinquency participants reacted more negatively toward the high-threat victim, presumably to maintain the BJW. Study 3 showed that the more one focuses on long-term investments and the less one uses unjust means, the stronger one’s BJW.

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  • Individuals who are especially high in dispositional belief in a Just World are more likely to derogate innocent victims, by perceiving them as less attractive, having less positive qualities and more negative characteristics.

    “Past research has found that individuals who are especially high in dispositional belief in a Just World are more likely to derogate innocent victims, by perceiving them as less attractive, having less positive qualities and more negative characteristics (Bizer et al., 2012;Correia & Vala, 2003;Hafer, 2000;Mendonça et al., 2016;Tepe et al., 2020).”

    From Victim blaming and belief in karma (2024) · cites this paper as Hafer, 2000

  • A second strategy is to distance oneself from the victim, as a way to reassure oneself that one's own life outcomes can still be governed by fairness principles that ensure bad things only happen to bad people.

    “A second strategy is to distance oneself from the victim, as a way to reassure oneself that even if bad things happened to someone else, one's own life outcomes can still be governed by fairness principles that ensure bad things only happen to bad people (Drout & Gaertner, 1994;Hafer, 2000;Lerner, 1980;Pinciotti & Orcutt, 2021).”

    From Victim blaming and belief in karma (2024) · cites this paper as Hafer, 2000

  • Both less positive trait ratings and less similarity to the victim have been documented in secular cultural contexts as a way that people maintain the view that the world is just, even when bad things happen to ostensibly innocent people.

    “Both of these responses have been documented in secular cultural contexts as a way that people maintain the view that the world is just, even when bad things happen to ostensibly innocent people (Bizer et al., 2012;Correia & Vala, 2003;Hafer, 2000;Mendonça et al., 2016;Tepe et al., 2020).”

    From Victim blaming and belief in karma (2024) · cites this paper as Hafer, 2000

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Authors
Hafer, C. L.
Affiliations
Brock University (CA)
Corresponding author
Hafer, Carolyn L.
ORCID
Hafer, Carolyn L.
Venue
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2000-11
Volume
26
Issue
9
Pages
1059-1073
ISSN
  • 0146-1672 (ISSN-L)
  • 1552-7433
DOI
10.1177/01461672002611004
OpenAlex
W2053465724
Cited by
251
References
40
Citations by year
2026: 5 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 10
FWCI
12.57
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social Power and Status Dynamics
Keywords
belief in a just world, long-term goals, delinquency, victim reactions, goal pursuit

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