Just World Beliefs and Attitudes toward Helping Elderly People: A Comparison of British and Canadian University Students

Social science students from a British university and a Canadian university were studied to determine the relationship between their beliefs in a just world and their attitudes toward helping elderly people who have social, economic or health needs. Approximately 30 percent of the British students (N = 71) and 50 percent of the Canadian students (N = 124) expressed a belief in a just world. In both groups, just world believers blamed elderly people for being in poor health or financial circumstances, and the Canadian just world believers also tended to dismiss the needs of elderly people for the convenience of society. These and other differences in the attitudes of the British and Canadian students toward elderly people are discussed from a social and historical context. Implications of a belief in a just world by social science students are discussed in relation to the provision of social services to elderly people.