Victim’s innocence, social categorization, and the threat to the belief in a just world

Isabel Correia; Jorge Vala; Patrícia Aguiar

doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2005.12.010

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PsychologyN/A

intermediate

Victim’s innocence, social categorization, and the threat to the belief in a just world

Isabel Correia et al. (2007)

Published: Jan 1, 2007
Journal: Journal of Experimental Social Psychology · Vol. 43 · No. 1
DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2005.12.010

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At a GlanceAI

Shows how victim innocence and social categorization shape when people defensively protect their belief in a just world.

SummaryAI

The paper examines how threats to the belief in a just world (BJW) are influenced by whether a victim is seen as innocent and how the victim is socially categorized (e.g., as an ingroup vs outgroup member). It highlights that people’s reactions to victims are not only about the harm done, but also about managing the psychological discomfort created when injustice challenges the idea that people get what they deserve. By linking victim evaluation to social categorization processes, it helps explain when observers may be more likely to derogate, distance from, or otherwise respond defensively to victims. The implication is that perceptions of victims—and support for them—can systematically shift depending on identity boundaries and the perceived “deservingness” implied by innocence.

Method SnapshotAI

Experimental social psychology studies manipulating victim innocence and social categorization to assess responses tied to just-world threat.

BackgroundAI

Basic social psychology of attribution and intergroup processes, plus the belief in a just world framework.

In Collections

Psychology41 papers

The Belief in a Just World

In this collection I gather (mostly) psychological studies devoted to people’s fundamental belief that the world is just. This construct, it seems to me, quite strongly affects our perception of the world and, importantly, our reaction to ongoing events — especially when we start blaming others, guided implicitly by precisely this motive. The collection includes both curated works, which at some point I read carefully and can say something sensible about, and new works being published on the topic.

Evgeny Smirnov