Belief in a Just World and Its Social Consequences

Year 2019, Volume: 14 Issue: 20, 2227 - 2247, 31.12.2019

Serap Akgün

https://doi.org/10.26466/opus.610173

Cited By: 5

Abstract

According to the belief in a just world theory, developed by Lerner
(1975), people need to believe that they live in a just world where everyone
lives what they deserve, good persons are rewarded while bad persons are
punished. Lerner stated that belief in a just world is an illusion infact the
world is not always fair, however, just world belief plays an important role in
feeling secure.  This belief leads to
individuals to perceive their social and physical environment as fair,
predictable, and controllable. Thus they look to the future with confidence and
they can strive to reach their long-term goals. According to the theory,
innocent victims threaten people’s belief in a just world, to cope with this
threat and to maintain their beliefs people use cognitive distortions such as
blaming or derogating the victim alongside the rational strategies such as
helping to the victim. Blaming the innocent victims has severe consequences not
only for victims but also for the whole society. In this review main
propositions of Lerner’s belief in a just world theory and the results of the
empirical studies testing these propositions were presented. Then the social
consequences of blaming or derogating innocent victims in order to protect the
just world belief were discussed.

Keywords

Belief in a Just World, Helping behavior, Victim Blaming

Adil Dünya İnancı ve Toplumsal Sonuçları

Abstract

Lerner’in Adil Dünya İnancı Kuramına göre (1975) insanlar herkesin
genellikle hak ettiğini elde ettiği, iyilerin ödüllendirilip kötülerin
cezalandırıldığı adil bir dünyada yaşadığına inanma ihtiyacındadır. Lerner adil
dünya inancının bir yanılsama olduğunu, gerçekte dünyanın çok adil olmadığını ancak
bu inancın kişinin kendini güvende hissetmesi için önemli olduğunu
vurgulamıştır. Bu inanç bireylerin sosyal ve fiziksel çevrelerini adil,
yordanabilir ve konrol edilebilir görmelerini kolaylaştırır. Böylece geleceğe
güvenle bakabilir ve uzun vadeli amaçlarına ulaşmak için çabalayabilirler.
Kurama göre masum kurbanlar insanların adil dünya inancını tehdit eder. Bu
tehditle baş edebilmek ve bu inancı koruyabilmek için kurbana yardım etme gibi
akılcı yolların yanı sıra kurbanı suçlama ya da değersizleştirme gibi bilişsel
çarpıtmalar da kullanılabilmektedir. Kurbanı suçlamanın toplumsal sonuçları son
derece ciddi görünmektedir. Bu derleme çalışmasında Lerner tarafından
geliştirilen Adil Dünya İnancı Kuramının temel önermeleri ve bu önermeleri test
eden görgül araştırma bulguları sunulmuştur. Adil dünya inancını korumak uğruna
kurbanı suçlamanın ya da değersizleştirmenin toplumsal sonuçları tartışılmıştır. 

Keywords

Adil Dünya İnancı, Yardım etme, Kurbanı suçlama

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