The World Is Not Fair: The Just World Hypothesis

May 12, 2023

What is a cognitive bias?

Cognitive bias refers to the tendency of people’s emotions and previous experiences distorting their rational thinking and judgements. Cognitive biases often prevent us from making a fair judgement regarding a certain situation, a person’s behaviour or even ourselves.

What is the just-world hypothesis?

Have you ever heard the expression “what goes around comes around” or “he had it coming” when someone experienced a misfortune after doing something bad? Or have you ever read a fictional story where the main character after a series of defeats rises against the evil forces and gets the ultimate victory? We want and expect the world to be a fair place, where everyone gets what they deserve and is punished for bad deeds and praised for good ones. However, it is not always that simple. In fact, the situations mentioned previously all represent one of the most widespread cognitive biases – the just-world hypothesis, or the just-world fallacy.

How was it discovered?

The bias was first identified in 1965 by Melvin Lerner, a professor of Social Psychology, and the harmful nature of this belief was discovered during the very first experiments conducted. Lerner devised the following experiment: a group of volunteers were demonstrated a study session during which a woman was electrocuted (of course, not actually, the woman was acting the part) for making mistakes while doing the assigned test. One group of volunteers were allowed to step in and put an end to the experiment, while the other group was not allowed to step in in any way, so they had to watch the woman seemingly writhe in pain. The latter group started to look for a logical explanation as to why the woman had to suffer. As a result, the people who interfered and stopped the experiment saw the woman as an innocent victim, while the ones who were not allowed to intervene came to the conclusion that the woman had deserved to be punished, since people do not get punished for nothing. Lerner deduced that when people cannot help someone who is suffering, they tend to think that the person has deserved this fate.

What does the just-world hypothesis consist of?

The just-world hypothesis is actually composed of several minor cognitive biases that together form a separate one. Firstly, humans’ tendency for teleological thinking – a cognitive hindrance that makes us see a cause and/or a purpose in a totally random event or entity. If one applies this way of thinking, they will figure that anything that happens to an individual, good or bad, actually was their goal in some way. Secondly, attribution fallacy – a tendency to ascribe someone’s success or failure to their personal traits (e.g. being sick because of not maintaining a healthy lifestyle, being poor because of not working hard enough etc.). Thirdly, the characteristic component of the just-world hypothesis is morality. Morality in particular forms the way we judge any situation and makes us believe that good is rewarded and evil is punished. According to the existing research, there are 5 forces of justice that people most often identify: God, Nature, Other People, Self and Chance.

Why do we believe in a just world in the first place?

In his book “The Belief in a Just World. A Fundamental Delusion” Melvin Lerner argues that this belief is functional – it fulfils humans’ inner needs. This is why the belief is so intrinsic to our culture and understanding of the world, with the hypothesis being the basis of numerous books, films and artworks. There are several ways in which we benefit from the just-world hypothesis:
It helps us reduce the anxiety from the realisation that we have little to no control over the world around us;
We are able to set long-term goals in terms of studying and work towards them enthusiastically;
The belief that we will be awarded in indefinite future makes it easier for us to live through minor hardships in our everyday life;
The fallacy gives us a sense of control over our life and fate;

What are the drawbacks of believing in a just world?

Nevertheless, the just-world hypothesis remains a bias which often prevents us from judging a certain situation fairly. For example, victims of sexual abuse or any other crime are often blamed for what has happened to them and accused of “triggering” the aggressor. Furthermore, the just-world hypothesis sometimes affects not only the way we judge other people, but also the way we judge ourselves. For instance, of you are a part of a certain group that is being discriminated against in society and think that you are “getting what you deserve”, your belief is likely to result in serious psychological issues. The same thing happens with victims of bullying. The belief in a just world can even harm those whose life is going smoothly: assuming that the world is a safe place for anyone who does not do anything bad or evil can provoke the person to take an unnecessary risk without putting enough thought into it.

Do I believe in a just world?

In 1975 the Journal of Social Issues published a research paper by Zick Rubin and Letitia Anne Peplau, in which they created “the Just World Scale” – a questionnaire consisting of 20 questions that they gave to respondents and asked them to fill out what statements they agreed and disagreed with. The statements included:

- Basically, the world is a just place;

- People who get "lucky breaks" have usually earned their good fortune;

- Students almost always deserve the grades they receive in school;

- When parents punish their children, it is almost always for good reasons;

And so on. The results indicated that the people that were prone to holding a just-world hypothesis were conservative, authoritarian, and orthodox. However, there have been no conclusive results considering the influence of personal traits, religion, or ethnicity on the likelihood in believing in a just world.

How to avoid the just-world bias?

Analyse your judgement – when you realise you’re utilizing the just-world belief when judging another person’s hardships, try to slow down and take apart your reasoning process to identify the bias and then consider alternative hypotheses as to why a certain mishap could occur;
Think of counter examples – consider a situation where one was acting in a completely different way to the person you’re judging but got the same outcome;
Change the perspective – imagine the same misfortune happened to you. Would it still be your fault or would it be a combination of external events affecting the outcome?
Reflect on your emotions – try to think about the reasons you turn to believing in a just world (it gives you hope, makes you feel more in control etc.) and try to find other ways to experience the same benefit that you get from the just-world hypothesis.

Thank you for reading this article, I hope it will help you with your critical skills and debates!

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