{"title":"The Role of Just-World Beliefs in Predicting Dishonest Behavior","authors":"Xin Tan, Lei Zhang, Xiaoxiao Zhang, Song Wu","doi":"10.1027/1614-0001/a000412","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract: Belief in a just world is considered an important personal variable in studies on moral behavior. However, previous studies have found conflicting results regarding the relationship between belief in a just world and dishonest behavior. The present study examines the role of belief in a just world (for the self and others) in their tendency to engage in dishonest behavior, especially in situations highlighting attention for either the self or others. The results indicated that the belief in a just world for others (other-BJW) positively predicted dishonest behavior, whereas the belief in a just world for self (self-BJW) did not. However, the present study also found that the association between other-BJW and dishonesty disappeared when participants’ attention was focused on themselves. Based on these results, we suggest that future studies explore the potential mediating effects of moral disengagement.","PeriodicalId":47049,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Individual Differences","volume":"35 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Individual Differences","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-0001/a000412","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract: Belief in a just world is considered an important personal variable in studies on moral behavior. However, previous studies have found conflicting results regarding the relationship between belief in a just world and dishonest behavior. The present study examines the role of belief in a just world (for the self and others) in their tendency to engage in dishonest behavior, especially in situations highlighting attention for either the self or others. The results indicated that the belief in a just world for others (other-BJW) positively predicted dishonest behavior, whereas the belief in a just world for self (self-BJW) did not. However, the present study also found that the association between other-BJW and dishonesty disappeared when participants’ attention was focused on themselves. Based on these results, we suggest that future studies explore the potential mediating effects of moral disengagement.
期刊介绍:
Researchers, teachers, and students interested in all areas of individual differences (e.g., gender, temperament, personality, intelligence) and their assessment in human and animal research will find the Journal of Individual Differences useful. The Journal of Individual Differences publishes manuscripts dealing with individual differences in behavior, emotion, cognition, and their developmental aspects. This includes human as well as animal research. The Journal of Individual Differences is conceptualized to bring together researchers working in different areas ranging from, for example, molecular genetics to theories of complex behavior.