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Psychology
intermediate

Predicting alternative strategies for preserving a belief in a just world: The case of repressive coping style

Carolyn L. Hafer & Leanne Gosse (2011)

Published
Jun 1, 2011
Journal
European Journal of Social Psychology · Vol. 41 · No. 6
DOI
10.1002/ejsp.807
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At a GlanceAI

Repressive coping predicts positive reappraisal (not victim blaming) as an alternative way to protect belief in a just world.

SummaryAI

This paper shows that people do not always preserve belief in a just world by derogating innocent victims. Across three studies, individuals high in repressive coping were more likely to positively reappraise a high-threat victim’s suffering, whereas nonrepressors were more likely to negatively evaluate the victim under the same threat. The findings broaden just-world theory by identifying a distinct, coping-linked pathway for maintaining just-world beliefs and highlight individual differences as predictors of which strategy people use.

Method SnapshotAI

Three experiments manipulated just-world threat via victim suffering scenarios and compared responses of repressors versus nonrepressors.

BackgroundAI

Basic knowledge of belief in a just world theory, victim evaluation processes, and coping style/individual differences in social psychology.

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