Melvin Lerner began the experiments establishing the just-world hypothesis in 1966 at the University of Kansas, studying how people respond emotionally when they witness someone suffer without being able to help them. The finding has since been applied, and criticized, well beyond the laboratory.
Facts
Core ClaimPeople are motivated to believe the world is fundamentally fair, that actions and conditions bring appropriate, deserved consequences, because this belief helps them feel able to plan and act effectively in their own lives. 1 Connections
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Just-World Hypothesis
Wikimedia FoundationLerner's theoryQuote, Lerner's theory
A just world is one in which actions and conditions have predictable, appropriate consequences.
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