Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Experimental and Longitudinal Investigations of the Causal Relationship Between Belief in a Just World and Subjective Well-Being

  • Published:
Social Justice Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This article has been updated

Abstract

Belief in a just world (BJW) has been assumed to promote subjective well-being. The results of cross-sectional studies have been consistent with this assumption but inconclusive about the causal origins of the correlations. Correia et al. (2009a) experimentally tested the original hypothesis (BJW causes subjective well-being) against the alternative hypothesis (subjective well-being causes BJW) and found support for both. Our Study 1 comprised four experiments that repeated and extended Correia et al.’s (2009a) experiments and fully replicated their findings. Study 2 reanalyzed a longitudinal data set regarding the interrelationships of several variants of BJW and subjective well-being. Cross-lagged panel analyses revealed very weak support for the original hypothesis and a little but not much more support for the alternative hypothesis. Taken together, the findings from both studies are consistent with Correia et al.’s (2009a) findings and suggest that the causal relationship between BJW and SWB is bidirectional in nature.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Change history

  • 30 September 2023

    In this article, instead of writing “Correia et al.’s (2009a)” the text reads as “Correia et al. (2009a)” and Table 3 has been updated.

References

  • Bartholomaeus, J., & Strelan, P. (2019). The adaptive, approach-oriented correlates of belief in a just world for the self: A review of the research. Personality and Individual Differences, 151, 109485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.06.028.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartholomaeus, J., Burns, N., & Strelan, P. (2023). The empowering function of the belief in a just world for the self: Trait-level and experimental tests of its association with positive and negative affect. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 49, 510–526.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Baumert, A., & Schmitt, M. (2012). Personality and information processing. European Journal of Personality, 26, 87–89.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becker, P. (1989). Trierer Persönlichkeitsfragebogen (TPF) [Trier Personality Questionnaire]. Hogrefe.

  • Blaney, P. H. (1986). Affect and memory: A review. Psychological Bulletin, 99, 229–246.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bower, G. H. (1991). Mood congruity of social judgments. In J. P. Forgas (Ed.), Emotion and Social Judgments (pp. 31–53). Pergamon Press.

  • Correia, I., Batista, M. T., & Lima, M. L. (2009a). Does the belief in a just world bring happiness? Causal relationships among belief in a just world, life satisfaction and mood. Australian Journal of Psychology, 61, 220–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Correia, I., Kamble, S. V., & Dalbert, C. (2009b). Belief in a just world and well-being of bullies, victims and defenders: A study with portuguese and indian students. Anxiety Stress and Coping, 22, 497–508.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dalbert, C. (1998). Belief in a just world, well-being, and coping with an unjust fate. In L. Montada, & M. J. Lerner (Eds.), Responses to victimizations and belief in a Just World (pp. 87–105). Plenum Press.

  • Dalbert, C. (1999). The world is more just for me than generally: About the personal belief in a Just World Scale’s validity. Social Justice Research, 12, 79–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dalbert, C. (2001). The justice motive as a personal resource: Dealing with challenges and critical life events. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.

  • Dalbert, C., & Donat, M. (2015). Belief in a just world. In J. Wright (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of the social & behavioral Sciences (pp. 487–492). Elsevier.

  • Dalbert, C., Montada, L., & Schmitt, M. (1987). Glaube an eine gerechte Welt als Motiv: Validierungskorrelate zweier Skalen [Belief in a just world as a motive: Validity correlates of two scales]. Psychologische Beiträge, 29, 596–615.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dalbert, C., Lipkus, I. M., Sallay, H., & Goch, I. (2001). A just and an unjust world: Structure and validity of different world beliefs. Personality and Individual Differences, 30, 561–577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95, 542–575).

  • Diener, E., & Lucas, R. E. (1999). Personality and subjective well-being. In D. Kahneman, E. Diener, & N. Schwarz (Eds.), Well-Being: The foundations of hedonic psychology (pp. 213–229). Russell Sage Foundation.

  • Diener, E., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Donat, M., Umlauft, S., Dalbert, C., & Kamble, S. V. (2012). Belief in a just world, teacher justice, and bullying behavior. Aggressive Behavior, 38, 185–193.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Donat, M., Peter, F., Dalbert, C., & Kamble, S. V. (2016). The meaning of students’ personal belief in a just world for positive and negative aspects of school-specific well-being. Social Justice Research, 29, 73–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donat, M., Rüprich, C., Gallschütz, C., & Dalbert, C. (2020). Unjust behavior in the digital space: The relation between cyber-bullying and justice beliefs and experiences. Social Psychology of Education, 23, 101–123.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellard, J., Harvey, A., & Callan, M. (2016). The justice motive: History, theory, and research. In C. Sabbagh, & M. Schmitt (Eds.), Handbook of Social Justice Theory and Research (pp. 127–143). Springer.

  • Fahrenberg, J., Myrtek, M., Schumacher, J., & Brähler, E. (2000). Fragebogen zur Lebenszufriedenheit [Life satisfaction questionnaire]. Hogrefe.

  • Faul, F., Erdfelder, E., Buchner, A., & Lang, A. G. (2009). Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: Tests for correlation and regression analyses. Behavior Research Methods, 41, 1149–1160.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fischer, R., Maes, J., & Schmitt, M. (2007). Tearing down the ‘Wall in the head’? Culture contact between Germans. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 31, 163–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furnham, A. (2003). Belief in a just world: Research progress over the past decade. Personality and Individual Differences, 34, 795–817.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodwin, T. C., & Williams, G. A. (2023). Testing the roles of perceived control, optimism, and gratitude in the relationship between general/personal belief in a just world and well-being/depression. Social Justice Research, 36, 40–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hafer, C. L. (2000). Investment in long-term goals and commitment to just means drive the need to believe in a just world. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 1059–1073.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hafer, C. L., & Bègue, L. (2005). Experimental research on just-world theory: Problems, developments, and future challenges. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 128–167.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hafer, C. L., & Sutton, R. (2016). Belief in a just world. In C. Sabbagh, & M. Schmitt (Eds.), Handbook of Social Justice Theory and Research (pp. 145–160). Springer.

  • Hopwood, C. J., Bleidorn, W., & Wright, A. G. C. (2021). Connecting theory to methods in longitudinal research. Perspectives on Psychological Science 2022, 17, 884–894.

  • Kearney, M. W. (2017). Cross-lagged panel analysis. In M. R. Allen (Ed.), The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods (pp. 312–314). Sage.

  • Koschate, M., Hofmann, W., & Schmitt, M. (2012). When East meets West: A longitudinal examination of the relationship between group relative deprivation and intergroup contact in reunified Germany. British Journal of Social Psychology, 51, 290–311.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Leiner, D. J. (2019). SoSci Survey (Version 3.1.06) [Computer software]. Available at https://www.soscisurvey.de.

  • Lerner, M. J. (1980). The belief in a just world. A fundamental delusion. Plenum Press.

  • Lerner, M. J., & Miller, D. T. (1978). Just world research and the attribution process: Looking back and ahead. Psychological Bulletin, 85, 1030–1051.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lipkus, I. M., Dalbert, C., & Siegler, I. C. (1996). The importance of distinguishing the belief in a just world for self versus for others: Implications for psychological well-being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22, 666–677.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maes, J. (1998). Immanent justice and ultimate justice: Two ways of believing in justice. In L. Montada, & M. J. Lerner (Eds.), Responses to victimizations and belief in a Just World (pp. 9–40). Plenum Press.

  • Maes, J., & Schmitt, M. (1999). More on ultimate and immanent justice: Results from the research project „Justice as a problem within reunified Germany. Social Justice Research, 12, 65–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nudelman, G. (2013). The belief in a just world and personality: A meta-analysis. Social Justice Research, 26, 105–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orth, U., Robins, R. W., Trzesniewski, K. H., Maes, J., & Schmitt, M. (2009). Low self-esteem is a risk factor for depressive symptoms from young adulthood to old age. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 118, 472–478.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Orth, U., Clark, D. A., Donnellan, M. B., & Robins, R. W. (2021). Testing prospective effects in longitudinal research: Comparing seven competing cross-lagged models. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 120, 1013–1034.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, B. W., & DelVecchio, W. F. (2000). The rank-order consistency of personality traits from childhood to old age: A quantitative review of longitudinal studies. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 3–25.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rusting, C. L. (1998). Personality, mood, and cognitive processing of emotional information: Three conceptual frameworks. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 165–196.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sauer, S., Schmitt, M., & Ziegler, M. (2013). Rasch analysis of a simplified Beck Depression Inventory. Personality and Individual Differences, 54, 530–535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, M., & Maes, J. (1998). Perceived injustice in unified Germany and mental health. Social Justice Research, 11, 59–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, M., & Maes, J. (2000). Vorschlag zur Vereinfachung des Beck-Depressions-Inventars (BDI) [Proposal of a simplified Beck Depression Inventory]. Diagnostica, 46, 38–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, M., & Maes, J. (2002). Stereotypic ingroup bias as self-defense against relative deprivation: Evidence from a longitudinal study of the german unification process. European Journal of Social Psychology, 32, 309–326.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, M., Altstötter-Gleich, C., Hinz, A., Maes, J., & Brähler, E. (2006). Normwerte für das Vereinfachte Beck-Depressions-Inventar (BDI-V) in der Allgemeinbevölkerung. [Norms for the simplified Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-V) in the general population]. Diagnostica, 52, 51–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, M., Maes, J., & Widaman, K. (2009). Longitudinal effects of egoistic and fraternal relative deprivation on well-being and protest. International Journal of Psychology, 44, 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schumacher, J. (2003). Satisfaction with Life Scale. In J. Schumacher, A. Klaiberg, & E. Brähler (Eds.), Diagnostische Verfahren zu Lebensqualität und Wohlbefinden [Assessment Procedures for Quality of Life and Well-Being] (pp. 305–309). Hogrefe.

  • Schwarz, N. (1990). Feelings as information: Informational and motivational functions of affective states. In R. Sorrentino, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of motivation and cognition: Foundations of Social Behavior (2 vol., pp. 527–561). Guilford.

  • Steyer, R., Schwenkmezger, P., Notz, P., & Eid, M. (1997). Der Mehrdimensionale Befindlichkeitsfragebogen [Multidimensional Mood Questionnaire]. Hogrefe.

  • Sutton, R. M., & Douglas, K. M. (2005). Justice for all, or just for me? More evidence of the importance of the self-other distinction in just-world beliefs. Personality and Individual Differences, 39, 637–645.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sutton, R. M., & Winnard, E. J. (2007). Looking ahead through lenses of justice: The relevance of just-world beliefs to intentions and confidence in the future. British Journal of Social Psychology, 46, 649–666.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Velten, E. (1968). A laboratory task for induction of mood states. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 6, 473–472.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This research was supported by grants from the German Research Foundation, No. SCHM1092/1-1, SCHM1092/1-2, SCHM1092/1-3. We thank Jane Zagorski for her help in editing the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Kaiserslautern-Landau, Landau, Germany

    Manfred Schmitt

  2. University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland

    Lena Heck

  3. Bundeswehr University Munich, Munich, Germany

    Jürgen Maes

Authors
  1. Manfred Schmitt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lena Heck
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jürgen Maes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manfred Schmitt.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Schmitt, M., Heck, L. & Maes, J. Experimental and Longitudinal Investigations of the Causal Relationship Between Belief in a Just World and Subjective Well-Being. Soc Just Res 36, 432–455 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-023-00427-5

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-023-00427-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation