Event Title
Just World Belief, Religiosity, and Attribution of Responsiblity for Misfortune
Presentation Type
Poster/Portfolio
Presenter Major(s)
Psychology
Mentor Information
Luke Galen, galenl@gvsu.edu
Department
Psychology
Location
Henry Hall Atrium 12
Start Date
13-4-2011 1:00 PM
End Date
13-4-2011 2:00 PM
Keywords
Ethics, Religion, Social Science
Abstract
Shared political or religious identity can result in blame for misfortune. A strong "belief in a just world" (BJW) may increase victim blaming in situations of misfortune. The current study assesses the effect of religiosity, BJW, and conservatism in predicting responsibility attributed to victims of the earthquake disaster in Haiti. Participants completed measures of BJW, conservatism, and religiosity. They were assigned to two scenarios: one describing the destruction of a Catholic town, the other describing an identical Voodoo town. Multiple regression was used to assess the attribution of responsibility for their plight based on these factors. When the town was depicted as Christian, conservatism predicted attributions of responsibility. When the town was Voodoo, the participant's religiosity was a greater predictor of attributions of responsibility, indicating that shared religious background affects the attributional process for responsibility in the case of misfortune.
Just World Belief, Religiosity, and Attribution of Responsiblity for Misfortune
Henry Hall Atrium 12
Shared political or religious identity can result in blame for misfortune. A strong "belief in a just world" (BJW) may increase victim blaming in situations of misfortune. The current study assesses the effect of religiosity, BJW, and conservatism in predicting responsibility attributed to victims of the earthquake disaster in Haiti. Participants completed measures of BJW, conservatism, and religiosity. They were assigned to two scenarios: one describing the destruction of a Catholic town, the other describing an identical Voodoo town. Multiple regression was used to assess the attribution of responsibility for their plight based on these factors. When the town was depicted as Christian, conservatism predicted attributions of responsibility. When the town was Voodoo, the participant's religiosity was a greater predictor of attributions of responsibility, indicating that shared religious background affects the attributional process for responsibility in the case of misfortune.