Biomedical subjects

Laurent Bègue

Publications and source records attributed to Laurent Bègue.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Belief in a just world as moderator of hostile attributional bias.

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.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2005

Experimental research on just-world theory: problems, developments, and future challenges.

M. J. Lerner (1980) proposed that people need to believe in a just world; thus, evidence that the world is not just is threatening, and people have a number of strategies for reducing such threats. Early research on this idea, and on just-world theory more broadly, was reviewed in early publications (e.g., M. J. Lerner, 1980; M. J. Lerner & D. T. Miller, 1978). In the present article, focus is directed on the post-1980 experimental research on this theory. First, 2 conceptualizations of the term belief in a just world are described, the typical experimental paradigms are explained, and a general overview of the post-1980 experiments is provided. Second, problems with this literature are discussed, including the unsystematic nature of the research. Third, important developments that have occurred, despite the problems reviewed, are described. Finally, theoretical challenges that researchers should address if this area of inquiry is to advance in the future are discussed.

Culture↗

PubMed2003

Two spheres of belief in justice: extensive support for the bidimensional model of belief in a just world.

The purpose of this research comprising five studies (N = 666) was to further corroborate the bidimensional conceptualisation of the belief in a just world proposed by Lipkus et al. (1996). It was demonstrated that belief in a just world for the Self (and not for Others) was correlated to evaluations of the meaning of life. Belief in a just world for Others was significantly correlated to discrimination against the elderly, stigmatisation of poverty, and higher penal punitiveness, while belief in a just world for Self was weakly or not related to these variables. Together, these observations confirm the importance of the conceptual and psychometric distinction between these two spheres of the belief in a just world.

Adolescent↗