According to the just world hypothesis, people need to believe that they deserve what they get and get what they deserve. This belief in a just world (BJW) seems to be related to antisocial behavior. However, the mechanisms that underlie this relationship have not been fully explored. This study aimed to investigate the relationships between BJW for others (BJW-Other; the belief that people, other than themselves, get what they deserve) and BJW for the self (BJW-Self; the belief that people feel they get what they deserve) with intentions to commit everyday crimes, victim deservedness, and anticipated guilt. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 364 undergraduate students (79.1% female, 18.7% male, 2.2% diverse) aged between 19 and 54 (M = 19.87; SD = 3.02) (Study 1). It was replicated in a further study that also measured perceptions of everyday crime as just punishment of its victims (e.g., for their privilege or complacency) in a sample of 302 (57.6% female, 41.4% male, and 1% diverse) non-university students aged between 20 and 99 (M = 41.76; SD = 13.12) (Study 2). In both studies, results indicated that the negative relationship between BJW-Self and intentions to commit everyday crimes was mediated by increased anticipated guilt. The more the participants in both samples endorsed BJW-Self the more they felt anticipated guilt, and in turn, the less they intended to offend. The results suggest that BJW-Self may play a role in fostering anticipated guilt and in turn deterring them from committing everyday crimes.
BaiB. Y.LiuX. X.KouY. (2014). Belief in a just world lowers perceived intention of corruption: The mediating role of perceived punishment. PLoS One, 9(5), e97075.
2.
BartholomaeusJ.StrelanP. (2016). Just world beliefs and forgiveness: The mediating role of implicit theories of relationships. Personality and Individual Differences, 96, 106–110.
3.
BartholomaeusJ.StrelanP. (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.
4.
BegueL.BastounisM. (2003). Two spheres of belief in justice: Extensive support for the bidimensional model of belief in a just world. Journal of Personality, 71(3), 435–463.
5.
ByrneB. M. (2010). Structural equation modelling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming (2nd ed.). Taylor & Francis Group.
6.
CorreiaI.DalbertC. (2008). School bullying: Belief in a personal just world of bullies, victims, and defenders. European Psychologist, 13(4), 248–254.
7.
DalbertC. (1998). Belief in a just world, well-being, and coping with an unjust fate. In MontadaL.LernerM.J. (Eds.), Responses to victimizations and belief in a just world (pp. 87–105). Plenum Press.
8.
DalbertC. (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(2), 79–98.
9.
De JudicibusM.McCabeM. P. (2001). Blaming the target of sexual harassment: Impact of gender role, sexist attitudes, and work role. Sex Roles, 44(7), 401–417.
10.
DonatM.DalbertC.KambleS. V. (2014). Adolescents’ cheating and delinquent behavior from a justice–psychological perspective: The role of teacher justice. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 29(4), 635–651.
11.
DzukaJ.DalbertC. (2007). Aggression at school: Belief in a personal just world and well-being of victims and aggressors. Studia Psychologica, 49(4), 313–320.
12.
FoxC. L.ElderT.GaterJ.JohnsonE. (2010). The association between adolescents’ beliefs in a just world and their attitudes to victims of bullying. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 80(2), 183–198.
13.
FurnhamA. (2003). Belief in a just world: Research progress over the past decade. Personality and Individual Differences, 34(5), 795–817.
14.
GraciaE. (2014). Intimate partner violence against women and victim-blaming attitudes among Europeans. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 92, 380–381.
15.
HayesR. M.LorenzK.BellK. A. (2013). Victim blaming others: Rape myth acceptance and the just world belief. Feminist Criminology, 8(3), 202–220.
16.
KaiserC. R.VickS. B.MajorB. (2004). A prospective investigation of the relationship between just-world beliefs and the desire for revenge after September 11, 2001. Psychological Science, 15(7), 503–506.
17.
KarstedtS.FarrallS. (2006). The moral economy of everyday crime: Markets, consumers and citizens. British Journal of Criminology, 46(6), 1011–1036.
18.
KheraM. L.HarveyA. J.CallanM. J. (2014). Beliefs in a just world, subjective well-being and attitudes towards refugees among refugee workers. Social Justice Research, 27(4), 432–443.
19.
KrettenauerT.EichlerD. (2006). Adolescents’ self-attributed moral emotions following a moral transgression: Relations with delinquency, confidence in moral judgment and age. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24(3), 489–506.
20.
LernerM. J. (1965). Evaluation of performance as a function of performer’s reward and attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1(4), 355.
21.
LernerM. (1980). The belief in a just world: A fundamental delusion. Springer.
22.
LipkusI. M.DalbertC.SieglerI. 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(7), 666–677.
23.
LucasT.RudolphC.ZhdanovaL.BarkhoE.WeidnerN. (2014). Distributive justice for others, collective angst, and support for exclusion of immigrants. Political Psychology, 35(6), 775–793.
24.
MoffittT. E. (2003). Life-course-persistent and adolescence-limited antisocial behavior: A 10-year research review and a research agenda. In LaheyB. B.MoffittT. E.CaspiA. (Eds.), Causes of conduct disorder and juvenile delinquency (pp. 49–75). The Guilford Press.
25.
MontadaL. (1998). Belief in a just world: A hybrid of justice motive and self-interest?. In MontadaL.LernerM.J. (Eds.), Responses to victimizations and belief in a just world (pp. 217–246). Springer.
26.
OlthofT. (2012). Anticipated feelings of guilt and shame as predictors of early adolescents’ antisocial and prosocial interpersonal behaviour. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 9(3), 371–388.
27.
OttoK.DalbertC. (2005). Belief in a just world and its functions for young prisoners. Journal of Research in Personality, 39(6), 559–573.
28.
QuilesZ. N.KinnunenT.BybeeJ. (2002). Aspects of guilt and self-reported substance use in adolescence. Journal of Drug Education, 32(4), 343–362.
29.
ReinhardtN.ReinhardM. A.SchindlerS. (2023). Is peoples’ belief in a just world associated with (dis) honesty in romantic relationships?. Journal of Research in Personality, 105, 104396.
30.
StrelanP.Van ProoijenJ. W. (2014). Rationalizers or realists? The effects of transgressors’ just world beliefs within committed relationships. Personality and Individual Differences, 63, 41–46.
31.
StupnianekK.NavickasV. (2019). Can beliefs in justice predict corrupt behavior?. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 7(1), 246–259.
32.
StupnianekK.SchmittM. (2024). Crime victims’ belief in a just world: Moderating effects of perceived fair treatment in the criminal justice process. Victims & Offenders, 19(2), 256–279.
33.
SuttonR. M.DouglasK. 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(3), 637–645.
34.
SuttonR. M.WinnardE. 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(3), 649–666.
35.
Van den BosK.MaasM. (2009). On the psychology of the belief in a just world: Exploring experiential and rationalistic paths to victim blaming. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35(12), 1567–1578.
36.
WenzelK.SchindlerS.ReinhardM. A. (2017). General belief in a just world is positively associated with dishonest behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1770.
