Just-world phenomenon
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The just-world phenomenon, also called the just-world theory, just-world fallacy, just-world effect, or just-world hypothesis, refers to the tendency for people to want to believe that the world is "just" so strongly that when they witness an otherwise inexplicable injustice they will rationalize it by searching for things that the victim might have done to deserve it. This deflects their anxiety, and lets them continue to believe the world is a just place, but at the expense of blaming victims for things that were not, objectively, their fault. Historically this concept can be dated back to the theodicy of Leibniz, a theory that was attacked by Voltaire in his novel Candide. In a similar way, Imre Lakatos has argued against the notion of "instant rationality" in the philosophy of science.
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[edit] History
One study gave women what appeared to be painful electric shocks while working on a difficult memory problem. Those who observed the experiment appeared to blame the victim for her fate, praised the experiment, and rated her as being less physically attractive than did those who had seen her but not the experiment. [1]
In another study, subjects were told two versions of a story about an interaction between a woman and a man. Both variations were exactly the same, except at the very end the man raped the woman in one and in the other he proposed marriage. In both conditions, subjects viewed the woman's (identical) actions as inevitably leading to the (very different) results[2]
Studies have shown that those who believe in a "just world" may be more likely to believe that rape victims must have behaved seductively, that battered wives must have deserved their beatings, that sick people must have caused their own illness, or that the poor deserve their lot[citation needed].
The just-world phenomenon was first theorized by Melvin Lerner[citation needed].
[edit] See also
- Denial
- Cognitive dissonance
- List of cognitive biases
- Mean world syndrome
- Victim blaming
- Best of all possible worlds
[edit] References
- ^ Lerner, M (August, 1966). "Observer reaction to the 'innocent victim': Compassion or rejection?". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 4 (2): 203-210.
- ^ Carli, L. L. (1999). Cognitive reconstruction, hindsight, and reactions to victims and perpetrators. Personality and social psychology bullitin, 25, 966-979.
- Lerner, M. (1980). The Belief in a Just World. New York: Plenum Press.
- Lerner, M. and Simmons, C. H. (1966). Observer’s Reaction to the "Innocent Victim": Compassion or Rejection? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4, v. 2.
- Lerner, M. J. & Miller, D. T. (1977). Just world research and the attribution process: Looking back and ahead. Psychological Bulletin, 85, 1030-1051.
