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Cited by 308Social and Intergroup PsychologySocial Power and Status DynamicsDeath Anxiety and Social Exclusion

A Theory of System Justification

Jost, John T.·2020·Harvard University Press eBooks
DOI 10.4159/9780674247192
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Abstract

Psychologist John Jost has spent decades researching poor people who vote for policies of inequality and women who think men deserve higher salaries. He argues that the persecuted often justify and defend the very social systems that oppress them because doing so serves a fundamental need for certainty, security, and social acceptance.

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  • System-justifying mechanisms reflect that some individuals and groups are motivated to preserve the status quo and resist social change, while others are motivated to challenge or improve upon it.

    “System-justifying mechanisms, which are often overlooked in social psychological analyses of political polarization, reflect the fact that some individuals and groups are motivated to preserve the status quo — and to resist various forms of social change — while others are motivated to challenge or improve upon it100,101.”

    From Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [101]

  • Those who endorse conservative attitudes exhibit stronger biases in favour of the status quo than those who endorse liberal attitudes.

    “Consequently, those who endorse conservative attitudes exhibit stronger biases in favour of the status quo than those who endorse liberal attitudes.”

    From Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [101]

  • System justification motivation is defined as the (not necessarily conscious) system-serving tendency to defend, bolster and legitimize aspects of the societal status quo.

    “This is because system justification motivation — defined as the (not necessarily conscious) system-serving tendency to defend, bolster and legitimize aspects of the societal status quo — is generally correlated with political conservatism101.”

    From Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [101]

  • System justification motivation is generally correlated with political conservatism.

    “This is because system justification motivation — defined as the (not necessarily conscious) system-serving tendency to defend, bolster and legitimize aspects of the societal status quo — is generally correlated with political conservatism101.”

    From Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [101]

  • The decline in Republican support for governmental regulation of the economy reflects economic system justification, that is, the conservative defence of increasing inequality as fair and legitimate under the neoliberal regime.

    “Presumably, this reflects economic system justification, that is, the conservative defence of increasing inequality as fair and legitimate under the neoliberal regime101,107,176–181.”

    From Cognitive–motivational mechanisms of political polarization in social-communicative contexts (2022) · cites this paper as [101]

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Authors
Jost, J. T.
Corresponding author
Jost, John T.
ORCID
Jost, John T.
Venue
Harvard University Press eBooks
Publisher
Harvard University Press
Published
2020-08-24
DOI
10.4159/9780674247192
OpenAlex
W3038554755
Cited by
308
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 32 · 2025: 71 · 2024: 62 · 2023: 57 · 2022: 49 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1
FWCI
40.05
Type
book
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Harvard University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
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, social inequality, oppression, certainty, social acceptance, political attitudes, gender pay gap

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