Naslov
Justice related beliefs and coping efficacy: A test of the adaptive functioning of the Belief in a Just World

Autori
Ćubela Adorić, Vera

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
1st Scientific research symposium: Positive psychology in education / Rijavec, Majda ; Miljković, dubravka - Zagreb, 2009, 31-32

ISBN
978-953-7210-25-0

Skup
3rd International Conference on Advanced and Systematic Research - ECNSI

Mjesto i datum
Zadar, Hrvatska, 12.11.2009. - 14.11.2009

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Nije recenziran

Ključne riječi
belief in a just world; belief in unjust world; coping strategies

Sažetak
Since its introduction in the mid of 1960s, the concept of the Belief in a Just World (BJW) has been used primarily to explain the blaming of victim and similar negative social-psychological phenomena. During the last few decades, however, the research focus has turned to the functioning of just-world beliefs in sustaining the mental health and psychological well-being. Supplementing previous research into BJW’s adaptive functioning, the study that will be reported here aimed at exploring the relationships between justice related beliefs and coping strategies in the academic context. Measures of several justice beliefs (including the beliefs in both just and unjust world) and of various stress coping strategies were completed by 101 high school students. The pattern of correlations between these two sets of variables was in line with the expectation that the BJW contributes to perceived efficacy in dealing with problems as well as to a more frequent use of problem solving, cognitive restructuring and seeking social support. The pattern was somewhat different for the general and personal BJWs, suggesting that these BJW facets already differentiate and perform different functions in adolescents as young as 15 to 16 years. The same holds for the belief in the unjustness of the world, which presumably develops as a result of accumulated unjust experiences and operates as a separate world-schema. The latter point was supported by the finding that, despite their negative intercorrelation, both beliefs in just and unjust world correlated positively with the use of avoidance strategy. Further analyses indicated that they relate to different components of the avoidance. The results will be discussed with reference to the concept of BJW as another positive illusion and its presumed adaptive functions in dealing with stress and sustaining the psychological well-being.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Psihologija

POVEZANOST RADA