Abstract
People have a need to Belief in a Just World (BJW) in which people get what they deserve. When people are confronted with
an event which threatens this BJW (e.g. when they witness a girl falling victim to rape), people try to maintain their existing
beliefs, for example, by blaming the innocent victim for her ill fate. We argue that this defensive process of blaming innocent
victims in essence stems from self-regulatory failure. In accordance with this line of reasoning, our first experiment shows
that when self-regulatory resources were depleted (i.e. in the case of high ego-depletion) before BJW threatening information
describing an innocent victim of a rape crime, the effect of BJW threat on victim blaming amplified. Study 2 shows that when
self-regulation was facilitated by means of self-affirmation after the BJW threatening information, the effect of BJW threat
on victim blaming vanished. Taken together, our findings suggest that coping with BJW threats involve self-regulatory processes
leading to more or less defensive reactions (like blaming innocent victims). When people’s self-regulatory resources are depleted,
they react more negatively to innocent victims when they constitute a stronger threat to the BJW. Facilitating self-regulation,
by means of self-affirmation, enables people to cope with BJW threatening information, thereby inhibiting the urge to blame
innocent victims.
an event which threatens this BJW (e.g. when they witness a girl falling victim to rape), people try to maintain their existing
beliefs, for example, by blaming the innocent victim for her ill fate. We argue that this defensive process of blaming innocent
victims in essence stems from self-regulatory failure. In accordance with this line of reasoning, our first experiment shows
that when self-regulatory resources were depleted (i.e. in the case of high ego-depletion) before BJW threatening information
describing an innocent victim of a rape crime, the effect of BJW threat on victim blaming amplified. Study 2 shows that when
self-regulation was facilitated by means of self-affirmation after the BJW threatening information, the effect of BJW threat
on victim blaming vanished. Taken together, our findings suggest that coping with BJW threats involve self-regulatory processes
leading to more or less defensive reactions (like blaming innocent victims). When people’s self-regulatory resources are depleted,
they react more negatively to innocent victims when they constitute a stronger threat to the BJW. Facilitating self-regulation,
by means of self-affirmation, enables people to cope with BJW threatening information, thereby inhibiting the urge to blame
innocent victims.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-13
- DOI 10.1007/s11211-012-0152-0
- Authors
- Annemarie Loseman, Department of Social and Organizational Psychology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Kees van den Bos, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Journal Social Justice Research
- Online ISSN 1573-6725
- Print ISSN 0885-7466
- Journal Volume Volume 25
- Journal Issue Volume 25, Number 1