Further evidence, sort of, that as Alan H. puts it, "happy people are meaner":
Last fall, researchers at the National Center for Children in Poverty found that believing life is fair leads to believing other people deserve whatever they get. Unremarkable, put that way. But the executive summary puts it another way:
The National Center for Children in Poverty’s innovative Vignette Study tested public opinion toward government assistance by creating a female subject whose description randomly varied 11 characteristics, including whether she works or receives welfare, whether she attends school, whether she is looking for a job, and whether she sometimes skips a meal so that her family can eat. In all cases, this subject was described as the mother of two children.Respondents with a strong Belief in a Just World find women less deserving the more they act responsibly or make efforts to improve their situation.
Respondents with a weak Belief in a Just World find women more deserving the more they make an effort to improve their situation.There you have it: Pollyanna easily turns into Scrooge.The results suggest that the belief system is challenged for people with a strong Belief in a Just World when they are presented with women who make efforts to improve their situation but still can’t get ahead. In order to protect their belief system, people with a strong Belief in a Just World will devalue and blame the victim.
The "full" study text (in PDF) seems like a too-narrow summary but it does have a pretty striking graph with the Pollyannas' sympathy declining as the non-Pollyannas' sympathy increased.
The study rated subjects' "Belief in a Just World" by their responses to these statements:
- I am confident that justice always prevails over injustice
- I am convinced, in the long run people will be compensated for injustices.
- I believe that, by and large, people get what they fairly deserve.
- I think basically the world is a just place.
- I firmly believe that injustices in all areas of life (e.g. professional, family, politics) are the exception rather than the rule.
- I think people try to be fair when making important decisions.
So was the study tautological? Maybe yes. But if so, it used social science to make an interesting philosophical point that's worth considering by itself.
Posted by Martha Bridegam at July 7, 2004 02:57 PM