Are victims also judged more positively if they say their lives are just?

Abstract

Non-victims who express high versus low personal belief in a just world (PBJW) are judged as having more social value, both social utility (i.e., market value) and social desirability (i.e., affective value). Our goal was to test whether this pattern differed when the targets were presented as innocent or noninnocent victims of enduring suffering. A hundred and eighty-six participants of both sexes took part in our 2 (degree of PBJW expressed: high/low) X 3 (Target identity: innocent victim/ non-innocent victim/ non-victim) between-subjects experimental study. Participants rated the targets on four measures: positive/negative social utility/desirability. Targets were judged more positively and less negatively if they expressed high versus low PBJW, regardless of their being non-victims or (non-)innocent victims. This pattern is taken as further evidence that the expression of high PBJW is a judgment norm, that is, a socially valued discourse irrespective of it being true or untrue.Keywords: Personal belief in a just world; Social value; Social utility; Social desirability; Victims.Será que as vítimas também são julgadas mais positivamente se disserem que as suas vidas são justas? Alvos apresentados como não-vítimas e que exprimem uma crença num mundo pessoal justo (CMJ pessoal) alta versus baixa são julgados como tendo mais valor social, tanto utilidade social (i.e., valor de mercado) como desejabilidade social (i.e., valor afetivo). O nosso objetivo foi testar se este padrão difere quando os alvos são apresentados como vítimas inocentes ou não inocentes de sofrimento prolongado. Cento e oitenta e seis indivíduos de ambos os sexos participaram num estudo experimental inter-participantes 2 (grau de CMJ pessoal expressa: alta/baixa) X 3 (identidade dos alvos: vítima inocente/ vítima não inocente/ não vítima). Os/as participantes avaliaram os alvos em quatro medidas: utilidade social positiva e negativa e desejabilidade social positiva e negativa. Os alvos foram avaliados mais positivamente e menos negativamente se exprimiram CMJ pessoal alta versus baixa, independentemente de serem vítimas (não) inocentes ou não vítimas. Interpretamos este padrão como representando mais evidência de que a expressão de CMJ pessoal constitui uma norma de julgamento, isto é, um discurso valorizado socialmente, independentemente de ser ou não verdadeiro.

The Social Value of Expressing Personal and General Belief in a Just World in Different Contexts

“…Specifically, the target who expressed high BJW-P versus high BJW-G was even more socially valued, whilst the target who expressed low BJW-P versus low BJW-G was even less socially valued. Finally, Alves et al (2015) found that non-victims, non-innocent victims and innocent victims were judged more favorably when they expressed high versus low BJW-P. This is consistent with the notion of BJW-P as a judgment norm -individuals approve of its expression even though they do not necessarily judge it as a faithful account of one's reality (Alves & Correia, 2010a, Study 2).…”

“…This occurred even when participants acknowledged that those targets had actually been victims of such prejudice. Also, Alves et al (2015) showed that victims of a car accident who had become permanently disfigured and maimed were less liked when they expressed low versus high BJW-P.…”