This study examined the association between victimization and victim blaming using a sample of n = 142 participants in a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) with the influence of subject gender, victim stereotyping level, threat level, and victim gender for victim blaming. Belief in a just world was included in the model as a covariate. Mediation analyses were conducted with the degree of identifiability with the victim and attitudes toward traditional role models as explanatory approaches. In addition, acceptance of rape myths was considered. The GLMM analyses suggest that victim blaming by male subjects was significantly higher on average than by female subjects when all other predictors were held constant. As an explanatory approach for these effects of the subjects\' gender on victim blaming, partial mediation was found with the degree of identification with the victim as a mediator. No main effects were found for the other influencing factors, but only a statistically significant three-way interaction. This indicates a differential effect of the level of stereotyping for male and female victims in conditions that end in high threat. The finding of the main effect of subjects\' gender seems to be particularly important for the legal system, as it appears to make a difference in who is asked in terms of victim blameworthiness. This finding highlights the importance of considering a victim\'s personal characteristics and the need for future research with an additional focus on the characteristics of the sentencers to help clarify potential biases.

Informal caregivers, who provide unpaid care work to individuals with disabilities, are devalued despite their important contributions to society. Identifying the factors contributing to their devaluation is crucial for recognizing and valuing their work. In two experimental studies, we examined (a) whether informal caregivers are dehumanized; (b) the moderating impact of belief in a just world (BJW) on this process; and (c) the predictive impact of BJW and the dehumanization of informal caregivers on the perception of informal caregivers\' suffering. In Study 1 (N = 180), a 2 (informal caregiver vs. non-caregiver) X 2 (female vs. male) between-participants design was used; in Study 2 (N = 205), there were two experimental conditions: female informal caregiver vs. male informal caregiver. Participants were randomly assigned to one description of a target and were asked to complete measures assessing the dehumanization of the target (Studies 1 and 2), the perception of the suffering of the target (Study 2), and a measure of BJW referring to themselves (Study 2). Results showed the expected dehumanization effect, such that participants attributed fewer uniquely human emotions to informal caregivers compared to non-caregivers, regardless of their gender (Studies 1 and 2). However, this effect was observed only among participants with higher BJW (Study 2). Furthermore, BJW and the dehumanization of informal caregivers predicted the minimization of the perception of informal caregivers\' suffering (Study 2). These results establish a theoretical relationship between these research areas and offer insights for practical implications and future research.

BACKGROUND: Exploration of the relationship between nursing staffs\' justice in belief world and fair behavior is important to promote equity and access to health services in health organizations, as well as to enhance the quality of care. In order to further dissect the influencing factors of fair behavior among clinical nurses, the current study aims to investigate how belief in a just world influences the fair behavior among nurses. Based on the belief in a just world theory, the empathy-altruism theory and the protective-protective model, the current study aimed to provide a deeper understanding of the effect of belief in a just world on fair behavior by investigating the mediating role of empathy and the moderating role of observer justice sensitivity.
METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study. 571 registered clinical nurses were included from five hospitals in Fuzhou through a convenience sampling method. Measurements included Chinese translations of belief in a just world scale, empathy scale, observer justice sensitivity scale, fair behavior scale. SPSS 22.0 was used to describe descriptive statistics and the variables\' Pearson correlation coefficient. SPSS PROCESS macro Model 4 and model 14 were used to examine the mediation and the moderation between the relationship of belief in a just world and fairness behavior.
RESULTS: The results shower that fairness behavior was positively correlated with one\'s belief in a just world (r = 0.26, p < 0.01); (2)empathy mediated the relationship between belief in a just world and fair behavior. The mediation model explains 20.83%; (3) Observer justice sensitivity moderated the relationship between empathy and fair behavior.
CONCLUSIONS: Belief in a just world, empathy, and observer justice sensitivity were motivations for nurses\' fair behavior. Nursing administrators should focus on cultivating nurses\' belief in a just world, their empathy abilities, and positive qualities of justice sensitivity to enhance fair behavior in a healthcare setting.

Cancel culture is a prevalent boycotting practice used to exert pressure, express disapproval, and enforce consequences online. While multiple studies have been done on cancel culture\'s history, evolution, and effects, none of them were focused on Cancel Culture for Gen Z, the most socially aware and digitally inclined generation. The study aimed to uncover the factors that influence Gen Z\'s intention to participate and actual participation in cancel culture by utilizing a newly established integrated framework of Belief in a Just World (BJW) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). A total of 677 valid survey responses from Gen Z respondents were collected to thoroughly evaluate the belief and behavioral dimensions of cancel culture through the utilization of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The study\'s results showed that attitude towards cancel culture, the subjective norm of cancel culture, and perceived behavioral control, are strong facilitating conditions that drive Gen Z\'s intent and actual participation in canceling behavior. It was seen that BJW has no effect on actual canceling behavior and a reverse effect on the intention to participate in canceling behavior. For the canceling methods, 97 % will unsubscribe or unfollow accounts and 94.68 % will block or mute accounts. It was also discovered that Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are the top social media platforms used by Gen Zs in the Philippines with at least a 94 % usage rate. The findings of this study may be utilized by businesses and policymakers on how to reduce the incidence and impact of cancel culture.

OBJECTIVE: Justice Capital provides a theoretical framework for explaining individual differences in the belief in a just world (BJW). However, this framework has yet to receive empirical validation.
METHODS: Using Round 9 of the European Social Survey, a large (n = 43,209) multi-country (N = 29) sample, I conduct multilevel latent profile analysis and multilevel multinomial logistic regression to determine the latent profiles that emerge at a population level and map the demographic and experiential covariates of these profiles.
RESULTS: Incorporating measures of general BJW, distributive and procedural justice, and the belief in equality of opportunity, I find three latent profiles: meritocrats, moderates, and egalitarians. Compared with egalitarians, meritocrats (strong just world believers) are more likely to be male; younger; have a higher income; have attained more years of education; to be politically conservative; and have no recent experience of discrimination or crime. Meritocrats were overrepresented in countries with a higher Human Development Index.
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the feasibility of Justice Capital for understanding individual variation in general BJW and related justice beliefs; discussion centers on anomalous findings and extension of this theoretical framework.

This research investigated the relation between the need for cognitive closure (i.e., a desire for epistemic certainty) and attitudes toward women as managers among men and women. In a cross-sectional study (total N = 241) collected in Italy, we found that need for cognitive closure, controlling for participants\' gender, was related to having more prejudice toward women leaders. Furthermore, the results revealed that the positive relation between the need for cognitive closure and negative attitudes toward women as managers was sequentially mediated by belief in a just world (i.e., the belief that people get what they deserve and deserve what they get and other people do not) and gender essentialism (i.e., the belief that women and men are distinctly, immutably, and naturally different, and thus have complementary skills to bring to the workplace). We suggest that men and women who are characterized by a need for cognitive closure are more sensitive to stereotypes of women as being incompatible with leadership roles. Either priming a low need for cognitive closure or providing contrary stereotypes could obviate the effect on beliefs in a just world and in gender essentialism that impedes progress towards greater gender equality in the workplace.

UNASSIGNED: Cyberbullying among college students has been receiving increased research attention. Previous studies have focused primarily on the impact of a single risk factor on cyberbullying among college students. However, individual behavior is influenced by multiple ecosystems simultaneously, including family, school, and peers. To explore the effects of a single risk factor alone is not in line with the reality of everyday life, and the effect of the single risk factor can often be overestimated. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the impact of multiple risk factors, namely cumulative ecological risk, on cyberbullying, while analyzing the mediating roles of belief in a just world and moral disengagement.
UNASSIGNED: A survey was conducted among 805 college students from two universities in Hebei Province, China, using the cumulative ecological risk questionnaire, the cyberbullying scale, the belief in a just world scale, and the moral disengagement scale.
UNASSIGNED: The results showed that: (a) Cumulative ecological risk was positively correlated with moral disengagement and cyberbullying, and negatively correlated with belief in a just world. Belief in a just world was negatively correlated with moral disengagement and cyberbullying. Moral disengagement was positively correlated with cyberbullying; (b) Belief in a just world partially mediated the relationship between cumulative ecological risk and cyberbullying; (c) Moral disengagement partially mediated the relationship between cumulative ecological risk and cyberbullying; (d) Belief in a just world and moral disengagement played a chain mediating role between cumulative ecological risk and college students\' cyberbullying.
UNASSIGNED: This study provides valuable insight for the reduction of cyberbullying behavior among college students, and offers suggestions on how to create a more favorable online environment.

Our proposition postulates that the correlation between the wrongdoer\'s status and the punishment suggestions of onlookers is primarily influenced by group-oriented envy rather than the ascription of intentionality and is moderated by the belief in a just world. In three separate studies, 389 university students were asked to read scenarios describing a hit-and-run crime committed by either a rich or a poor individual and then report their opinions on intentionality attribution (Study 1 and Study 2), envy emotions (Study 2), punishment recommendations (all three studies), and belief in a just world (Study 3). Consistently, the findings indicated that those observing recommended harsher penalties to be imposed upon high-status perpetrators engaging in the same wrongdoing (such as hit-and-run) as their low-status equivalents. The effect of the rich receiving more severe punishment was predicted more strongly by envious emotions than by intentionality attributions to high-status wrongdoers and was only present for those observers who endorsed a lower belief in a just world.

UNASSIGNED: Campus lockdown orders were issued for the purpose of preventing and controlling COVID-19, which resulted in psychological problems among college students. However, the experiences they have during the pandemic may also lead to positive personal changes, including posttraumatic growth (PTG). The current study examined the mediating role of belief in a just world and meaning in life in social support and PTG during the COVID-19 campus lockdown.
UNASSIGNED: An online survey was conducted on 1711 college students in Hebei Province, China. Based on the survey results, a structural equation model was established.
UNASSIGNED: Social support positively predicted PTG. Furthermore, belief in a just world and meaning in life played a mediating role between social support and PTG respectively. Besides, social support could also predict PTG through the multiple serial mediating effect of belief in a just world and meaning in life.
UNASSIGNED: These results indicated mechanisms by which social support influenced PTG, and this provided insights into how to promote post-traumatic growth among university students in the post-pandemic period.

BACKGROUND: Experiences of being bullied in school can impair adolescents\' subjective well-being and elevate the risk of psychopathology, suggesting the necessity of identifying factors that may protect against the deleterious effects of being bullied. This study expands upon prior research by examining the relationship between bullying victimization and adolescent mental health, specifically from the perspective of individual perceptions of justice and healthy lifestyles in the Chinese cultural context.
METHODS: A total of 3873 Chinese adolescents in grades 7-11 (51.85 % female) completed bullying victimization, belief in a just world, health promoting lifestyle, depressive symptoms, and subjective well-being measures, and provided information on their demographics, including gender, grade, family structure, parents\' educational background.
RESULTS: After adjusting for demographic variables, bullying victimization was directly and positively related to depression, while directly and negatively related to subjective well-being. Bullying victimization also influenced depression and subjective well-being through three mediation pathways, with belief in a just world and health promoting lifestyle playing multiple mediating roles in the relationship between bullying victimization and mental health outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS: The data used in this study were self-reported by adolescents and measured via cross-sectional designs, thus precluding statistical examination of temporal causal relationships, and assessments of whether reported affects are stable over time.
CONCLUSIONS: The study suggests that belief in a just world and health promoting lifestyle are important factors in understanding the impact of bullying victimization on adolescent mental health, and underscores the need for targeted bullying interventions for at-risk adolescents.