"People need to believe they live in a" just "world."
People are most comfortable when they have a sense of control over their lives. We need to believe that we live in a world where the good are rewarded and the wicked are punished; this makes an important contribution to the sense that we are able to predict, direct, and finally control things. This "Just World Hypothesis" is a tendency to believe that people get what they deserve. However, according to Melvin Lerner, this is a dangerous misunderstanding that places extreme emphasis on the putative character traits of the people involved rather than the actual facts of a situation. If someone is suffering or has been punished, we find it easier to believe that that person is doing something to deserve this kind of situation. The Just World theory becomes a comforting excuse for seemingly inexplicable events and ends the world from looking chaotic or random. It also creates a false sense of trust and control by making people believe that "good" things will happen to them as long as they are "good".
In his book, Belief in a Just World, Lerner argues that we ask children to be "good" and promise them that they will be rewarded in the future in return for putting aside their natural impulses and desires. For this agreement to be fulfilled, we need to live in a just world so that belief stays in place while having children.
Blame the Victim
In his 1965 study, Lerner found that the students whose friends were told to play the lottery justified the incident that he should have studied harder than anyone else. Believing in the "Just World" seems to allow people to adapt to the realities of a situation. This is particularly damaging when applied to our perspective on victims of crime or abuse. For example, in cases of rape, it is often claimed that the female victim wore a short skirt or "called this" on the grounds that she was flirtatious, the criminal is freed from responsibility and the responsibility is left on the shoulders of the victim. Outsiders also protect their sense of security by blaming the victim.
However, Lerner emphasizes that belief in the "Just World" does not always lead to blame on the victim. The appearance of innocence, attractiveness, position, and the degree of resemblance of the victim to those who judge him are a factor in whether people hold him responsible for his misfortune.
Lerner's hypothesis has formed the basis of important social justice research. It also sparked a debate on the effects of the Just World approach. Does this approach help people survive adversity? Instead, it may instigate the feeling that any evil, no matter how small or unintentional, will lead to a disaster. This is a belief that Australian psychologist Dorothy Rowe suggests increases propensity for depression.