Schemas:
Conscious or unconscious
assumptions, beliefs,
& theories. Our
associative networks
& preconceptions
(innate & learned). |
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Psychologists have investigated people's schema for
believing that the world is a just place to live.
This area of research is referred to as the "Belief
in a just world" or the "just world
phenomenon". Research participants
can be given a questionnaire that measures the extent
to which they believe the world is a just place, that
is, that justice prevails: the good (moral) are reward
and the bad (immoral) are punished. Psychologists
have found that people who strongly believe in a just
world, tend to blame the victim in
a situation. Therefore people who have this schema
tend to denigrate victims.
It is likely that the jurors in the Rodney King trial
were people who subscribed to the "belief in a
just world," because they came from a white middle
class background. Great injustice would only rarely
be experienced in their world compared to the world
in which Rodney King lived.
Examples two
questions found on a "belief
in a just world"
questionnaire:
| 1. - Do you believe
movies in which good
triumphs over evil? |
| 2. - It is rare
for an innocent man to be
wrongfully sent to jail? |
A
person who strongly
endorses these kinds of
items is more likely to
subscribe to the
"just world
belief".
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