WHY DO PEOPLE BELIEVE IN A JUST WORLD - TESTING EXPLANATIONS

From the literature, three explanations for a belief that the world is a "just place" are presented. (1) high religiosity, (2) being "naive" about the world, and (3) successful acquisition of societal rewards. Pertinent literature for each explanation is examined and the results are found to be both mixed and contradictory. Using a random sample of adults (N = 283) from Northern Ireland, all three explanations are tested with multiple indicators using a revised version of the Rubin and Peplau (1975) Just World scale. Religiosity is not found to be related to the "just world" phenomenon, and the support for the other two explanations is mixed and gender-related. Finding the extant explanations for a belief in a just world to be inadequate, brief suggestions for a new explanation and further research are discussed.