Ramblings on the Just-World Theory

"In other words, the just world hypothesis is a tendency...It's like an intuition to attribute consequences to or expect consequences as a result of either a universal force that restores moral balance or a universal connection between the nature of actions and their results."

Hello Team

🎦 00:00-00:10⏩

Jonathan introduces the topic for today's video - The Just World Theory, something that he says people didn't understand when he mentioned it earlier. He explains that the Ukraine war triggered him, as it was "so obviously unfair".

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The Just World Theory Explained

🎦 00:10-04:23⏩

Jonathan explains that the Just World Theory is a formalized theory in psychology, which underwrites what most people believe. He explains that whilst we might agree that the world is unfair, we have a desire for it to be fair. He gives a personal anecdote of when his twin boys smashed their oven door and how his partners response, even though she is no longer religious was that "that just had to happen for a reason", as perhaps the oven was going to burn the house down, so therefore it was "meant to happen". Jonathan points out that this is a perfect example of the Just World Theory, where bad is balanced by justifying good. He goes on to explain that this theory underwrites belief in Heaven and Hell, and Karma, and that whilst we know the world is unfair, we have an intuitive urge to try and couch things so that they appear to be just, i.e. "that bad thing is alright because of that good thing" and that the two things are connected.

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Religion and The Just World Theory

🎦 04:23-08:22⏩

Jonathan explains that as a skeptic and an atheist, he is not trying to have a go at religion, but to explain how certain beliefs work in line with human psychology. He explains that most people don't believe in a God that is unfair, and using the Bible as an example, explains that the Old Testament doesn't have a coherent belief in the afterlife, but that this developed in the intertestamental period (between the Old and New Testament). During this time the Hellenized Jews (Greekized Jews) were influenced by Greek thinking on the afterlife, Heaven and Hell and that this started filtering into Jewish thinking as the Orthodox Jews were being persecuted by the Hellenized Jews. This led to the thinking that if the Orthodox Jews were the chosen ones, why were they the ones being oppressed, which led to the development of the afterlife, where the bad (being persecuted on Earth) is balanced by the good (going to Heaven when you die). This developed further to include those that do bad things being punished in the afterlife by going to Hell. Jonathan reiterates that he's not denigrating religion, but explaining how it aligns with our desire for a just world. As the world isn't fair we create mechanisms to give us a sense of fairness.

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The Just World Theory and the Ukraine War

🎦 08:22-18:06⏩

Jonathan moves on to how human psychology balances things to create a sense of justice by using the example of the war in Ukraine. He states that Russians seeing evidence of war crimes will experience cognitive dissonance, as their core belief is that Russia is good and just. This is because they associate their identity with Russia, so anything Russia does is an extension of themselves. Therefore by accepting that what Russia is doing is wrong would mean accepting that a part of them is morally malignant. Jonathan refers to cognitive dissonance reduction and explains that this is a process whereby evidence that contradicts a core belief is rejected or minimized in order to retain the core belief. He explains how this works by using the example of Russians confronted with evidence that their troops are committing war crimes. Because their core belief is that Russia is good, they will adapt the evidence to fit that belief, by believing that the Ukrainians must have done something to deserve it. This enables them to retain their core belief.

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Just World Theory - The Evidence

🎦 18:06-24:15⏩

Jonathan reads an extract from the Wikipedia entry for the Just World Theory, which includes the commonly used figures of speech such as "what goes around, comes around", "You reap what you sow" etc. Jonathan points out that it has been widely studied since the 1960s. He refers to research carried out that shows that observers of suffering tend to derogate and blame the victims for their suffering.

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Just World Theory - Correlates

🎦 24:15-31:03⏩

Jonathan points out that there are correlates with the Just World Theory - those with right wing authoritarianism and a strong Protestant work ethic tend to score more highly. He explains that those with high Just World Beliefs also have higher levels of religiousness which he believes is because the Just World Theory gave rise to beliefs in Heaven and Hell. He points out that research has shown that in countries where the majority of the population are powerless (for example, born into poverty with little chance of escape), belief in a Just World tends to be lower. He compares this to countries with good social welfare systems (citing the Nordic countries, who also have high happiness ratings, despite low levels of religiosity) where citizens have a sense of existential security, meaning they are less likely to believe in a Just World as the state does a good job in creating a sense of justice by helping those that experience misfortune. This is in contrast to countries with poor welfare systems (like the USA) where there is a real disparity between the rich and poor, leading to a mix of beliefs.

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The Psychology of Religion

🎦 31:03-34:04⏩

Jonathan talks about the psychology of religion and the functional benefits of religion in a Just World - in that it might make people less inclined towards criminality because of the sense of community and support it provides. He uses the example of going to church to highlight the social aspect, and the sense of community that it can provide. He concludes that it's not necessarily a belief in God that provides the benefit, but the sense of community that being religious can provide.

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How The Just World Theory Affects our View of Politics

🎦 34:04-37:07⏩

Jonathan moves on to how we view politics. Often, we see our own country as an extension of ourselves, and by extension the political party that we vote for. He uses the example of the US and the differences between Republicans and Democrats, where Republicans might find it hard to accept that Joe Biden (a Democrat) is a good person, as by doing so they would be admitting that their view of the US is wrong. This is because people have a tendency to simplify things and put them into categories of good or bad, resulting in a desire to want to see the other side fail.

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Wrap up

🎦 37:07-37:51⏩

Jonathan wraps up the video by acknowledging that he has rambled and encourages viewers to share their thoughts in the comments. He finishes by saying that he's going to the pub later for the "Tippling Philosophers" and that he might discuss this very subject with them.

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