Negative contexts as catalyzers: Belief in a just world enhances political trust via perceived procedural justice, and contextual procedural injustice boosts it

Abstract

In our multinational study, we tested the hypothesis that belief in a just world (BJW) enhances political trust by strengthening perceptions of political procedural justice. Based on data from the ninth round of the European Social Survey and various country-ranking indices, we found a positive relationship between BJW and political trust, with perceived procedural justice serving as an important mediator in this relationship. More importantly, our multilevel analysis indicated that the actual quality of procedural justice moderates this relationship in a way that BJW enhances perceived procedural justice and political trust indirectly to a greater extent in countries with more severe problems with political procedural justice. The results show that a negative context serves as a catalyzer for motivated perceptions, as BJW pushes perceptions in the direction of justice even more strongly in an unjust context, which, in turn, contributes to gratuitous political trust.