Premium
Belief in a just world as moderator of hostile attributional bias
Author(s) -
Bègue Laurent,
Muller Dominique
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1348/014466605x37314
Subject(s) - moderation , psychology , just world hypothesis , social psychology , attribution , developmental psychology
To determine the protective effect of ‘belief in a just world for self’ (BJW‐S) on hostile attributional bias, 379 adolescents aged 10–16 years, previously identified by teacher ratings as high or low troublemakers, were presented with a hypothetical frustrating situation where the intent of the frustrating agent appeared either benign, hostile, or ambiguous. The analysis indicated that the higher the BJW‐S, the lower participants reacted aggressively. This effect was qualified by ‘belief in a just world for others’ (BJW‐O), indicating that the negative relationship between BJW‐S and aggressive reaction was weaker as BJW‐O increased. An interaction between BJW‐S, troublemaking level, and the intent factor, indicated for high troublemakers in the ambiguous condition that an increase in BJW‐S decreased aggressive reaction, while this was not the case for low troublemakers, thus providing support for the hypothesized buffer effect of BJW‐S.