The Belief in a Just World and the 'Heroic Motive': Searching for 'Constants' in the Psychology of Religious Ideology

Melvin J. Lerner

doi:10.1207/s15327582ijpr0101_4

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PsychologyN/A

intermediate

The Belief in a Just World and the 'Heroic Motive': Searching for 'Constants' in the Psychology of Religious Ideology

Melvin J. Lerner (1991)

Published: Jan 1, 1991
Journal: International Journal for the Psychology of Religion · Vol. 1 · No. 1
DOI: 10.1207/s15327582ijpr0101_4

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At a GlanceAI

Links belief in a just world to a “heroic motive” as a proposed constant shaping religious ideology.

SummaryAI

Lerner connects the belief in a just world to a broader “heroic motive,” framing both as enduring psychological themes that can help explain religious ideology. The article’s novelty is in treating just-world belief not only as a bias in judging others but as part of a motivational structure that supports meaning, morality, and perceived order. This perspective matters because it suggests religion may draw strength from stable psychological needs to see the world as fair and purposeful. The implication is that understanding religious ideology may require studying these underlying motives and “constants,” not only doctrinal content or social context.

Method SnapshotAI

Conceptual/theoretical analysis integrating belief-in-a-just-world theory with accounts of motivation and religious ideology.

BackgroundAI

Familiarity with belief in a just world research and basic theories in the psychology of religion and moral motivation.

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