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Psychology
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The Justice Motive: History, Theory, and Research

John H. Ellard et al. (2016)

Published
Jan 1, 2016
Journal
Handbook of Social Justice Theory and Research
DOI
10.1007/978-1-4939-3216-0_7
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At a GlanceAI

Integrative overview of the justice motive and its links to belief in a just world across theory, history, and research.

SummaryAI

This handbook chapter synthesizes major lines of theory and evidence on the justice motive—people’s drive to see the world as fair—and situates belief in a just world within that broader framework. By pulling together historical roots, competing theoretical accounts, and key empirical findings, it clarifies how just-world beliefs operate as both a psychological need and a lens for interpreting outcomes. The chapter helps readers understand why just-world beliefs can shape reactions to victims, inequality, and punishment, and it maps directions for future justice-motive research.

Method SnapshotAI

Narrative, theory-driven review chapter integrating prior conceptual and empirical literature on justice motivation and just-world beliefs.

BackgroundAI

Basic social psychology of justice and fairness, including familiarity with belief in a just world and related motivational theories.

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.

ES
Evgeny Smirnov