scholarly journals System Threat during a Pandemic: How Conspiracy Theories Help to Justify the System

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 183449092110570
Author(s):  
Jia-Yan Mao ◽  
Jan-Willem van Prooijen ◽  
Shen-Long Yang ◽  
Yong-Yu Guo
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Studies ◽  
System Justification ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Threat Model ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Foreign Governments ◽  
System Threat

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have endorsed conspiracy theories about foreign governments yet shown increased trust and support for their own government. Whether there is a potential correlation between these social phenomena and the psychological mechanisms behind them is still unclear. Integrating insights from the existential threat model of conspiracy theories and system justification theory, two experimental studies were conducted to investigate whether belief in out-group conspiracy theories can play a mediating role in the effects of system threat on people's system justification beliefs against the background of the pandemic. The results show that system threat positively predicts individuals’ system-justifying belief, and belief in out-group conspiracy theories mediated this relationship.

On Social Stability and Social Change

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 360-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron C. Kay ◽  
Justin Friesen
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Personal Control ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
System Justification ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
The Status ◽  
System Threat ◽  
Do So

More than a decade of research from the perspective of system-justification theory (Jost & Banaji, 1994) has demonstrated that people engage in motivated psychological processes that bolster and support the status quo. We propose that this motive is highly contextual: People do not justify their social systems at all times but are more likely to do so under certain circumstances. We describe four contexts in which people are prone to engage in system-justifying processes: (a) system threat, (b) system dependence, (c) system inescapability, and (d) low personal control. We describe how and why, in these contexts, people who wish to promote social change might expect resistance.

scholarly journals Do Members of Disadvantaged Groups Explain Group Status With Group Stereotypes?

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliane Degner ◽  
Joelle-Cathrin Floether ◽  
Iniobong Essien
Keyword(s):  
System Justification ◽  
Intergroup Attitudes ◽  
Group Status ◽  
Stigma Consciousness ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Disadvantaged Groups ◽  
Outgroup Favoritism ◽  
Status Differences ◽  
Societal Stigma

Recent research on group attitudes in members of disadvantaged groups has provided evidence that group evaluations closely align with societal stigma, reflecting outgroup favoritism in members of those groups that are most strongly stigmatized. While outgroup favoritism is clearly evident among some groups, there is still debate about the psychological mechanisms underlying outgroup favoritism. The current research focuses on a less intensively examined aspect of outgroup favoritism, namely the use of status-legitimizing group stereotypes. We present data from members of four disadvantaged groups (i.e., persons who self-categorize as gay or lesbian, n = 205; Black or African American, n = 209; overweight n = 200, or are aged 60–75 years n = 205), who reported the perceived status of their ingroup and a comparison majority outgroup and provided explanations for their status perceptions. Contrary to assumptions from System Justification Theory, participants rarely explained perceived group status differences with group stereotypes, whereas they frequently explained ingroup disadvantage with perceived stigmatization and/or systemic reasons. Further exploratory analyses indicated that participants’ status explanations were related to measures of intergroup attitudes, ideological beliefs, stigma consciousness, and experienced discrimination. Our results highlight the need to develop a better understanding whether, under what circumstances, and with which consequences members of disadvantaged groups use group stereotypes as attributions of ingroup status and status differences.

Antecedents and Consequences of System-Justifying Ideologies

2005 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 260-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Jost ◽  
Orsolya Hunyady
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
System Justification ◽  
Need For Closure ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Disadvantaged Groups ◽  
The Status ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences ◽  
System Threat

According to system justification theory, there is a psychological motive to defend and justify the status quo. There are both dispositional antecedents (e.g., need for closure, openness to experience) and situational antecedents (e.g., system threat, mortality salience) of the tendency to embrace system-justifying ideologies. Consequences of system justification sometimes differ for members of advantaged versus disadvantaged groups, with the former experiencing increased and the latter decreased self-esteem, well-being, and in-group favoritism. In accordance with the palliative function of system justification, endorsement of such ideologies is associated with reduced negative affect for everyone, as well as weakened support for social change and redistribution of resources.

scholarly journals Revisiting the status-legitimacy hypothesis: Concepts, boundary conditions, and psychological mechanisms

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shen-Long Yang ◽  
Bu-Xiao Xu ◽  
Feng Yu ◽  
Yong-Yu Guo
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
System Justification ◽  
High Status ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Moderator Variables ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe status-legitimacy hypothesis proposes that low-status groups are more inclined to justify the status quo as fair and legitimate than high-status groups. Although there are some research evidences for this hypothesis, many studies have found the opposite result, that disadvantaged groups are more dissatisfied with the social system. To resolve this disagreement, this article integrates relevant ideas and empirical research in three aspects. First, the conceptual approach emphasises that the controversy is a result of different operational definitions of social status and system justification in previous studies. The second approach, focusing on moderator variables, proposes that the disputes over past studies are probably due to moderator variables, which can influence the relationship between status and system justification. The third approach, based on psychological mechanisms, proposes that system justification theory cannot completely explain the psychological underpinnings of status differences in system justification, and in order to clarify this, it is necessary to explore other psychological processes. Future studies should continue to examine the mediation mechanisms and boundary conditions of the status-legitimacy hypothesis and may try to establish a nonlinear hypothesis. Moreover, researchers should also pay attention to the application of experimental methods and big-data methods.

scholarly journals Can mindfulness meditation reduce the tendency to justify the status quo?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mollie A. Price-Blackshear
Keyword(s):  
Mindfulness Meditation ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
System Justification ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Compassion Meditation ◽  
The Status ◽  
Mindfulness Practices ◽  
Outgroup Favoritism ◽  
System Threat

System justification theory suggests that advantaged groups in society frequently express ingroup favoritism and outgroup bias, whereas disadvantaged groups express outgroup favoritism. These tendencies are likely to occur when individuals are motivated to perceive the system as legitimate. This motivation is driven by uncertainty regarding unstable systems. Mindfulness practices emphasize open acceptance and awareness of thoughts and experiences. Participation in mindfulness can engender, among other things, greater acceptance of outgroup members. The current study examined whether mindfulcompassion practice reduced system justification, and whether system threat undermined this influence. Unexpectedly, the results suggest that mindful-compassion lead to more favorable intergroup attitudes under high system threat (i.e., lower race-system justification, lower negative attitudes, and higher othergroup orientation). In addition, interactions for negative racial attitudes and othergroup orientation were qualified by internal motivation to control prejudice. This study was the first to experimentally test them impact of mindfulness on system justification. In addition, it is the first to examine empirically whether compassion meditation is associated with assessments of unjust social systems and attitudes toward ethnic outgroup members, and the extent to which system threat undermines this effect. Key words: mindfulness, compassion meditation, system justification, system threat, intergroup relations, outgroup attitudes

Emotional difficulties among individuals with alcohol use disorder: the mediating role of psychological mechanisms linked to mindfulness

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 561-568
Author(s):  
Marco Cavicchioli ◽  
Pietro Ramella ◽  
Giulia Simone ◽  
Giulia Vassena ◽  
Mariagrazia Movalli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Use ◽  
Alcohol Use Disorder ◽  
Emotional Difficulties ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms

scholarly journals A Decade of System Justification Theory: Accumulated Evidence of Conscious and Unconscious Bolstering of the Status Quo

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Jost ◽  
Mahzarin R. Banaji ◽  
Brian A. Nosek
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
System Justification ◽  
Ingroup Bias ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Disadvantaged Groups ◽  
The Status ◽  
Outgroup Favoritism

Most theories in social and political psychology stress self-interest, intergroup conflict, ethnocentrism, homophily, ingroup bias, outgroup antipathy, dominance, and resistance. System justification theory is influenced by these perspectives—including social identity and social dominance theories—but it departs from them in several respects. Specifically, we argue that (a) there is a general ideological motive to justify the existing social order, (b) this motive is at least partially responsible for the internalization of inferiority among members of disadvantaged groups, and (c) paradoxically, it is sometimes strongest among those who are most harmed by the status quo. In this article, we review and integrate 10 years of research on 20 hypotheses derived from a system justification perspective, focusing especially on the phenomenon of implicit outgroup favoritism among members of disadvantaged groups (including African Americans, the elderly, and gays/lesbians) and its relation to political ideology (especially liberalism-conservatism).

scholarly journals Development of Honor System Justification Scale

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (18) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
System Justification ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Hostile Sexism ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Attitudes Toward Violence ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Honor System ◽  
Gender System ◽  
Report Measure

The purpose of the present study was to develop, from the perspective of system justification theory (Jost & Banaji, 1994), an honor system justification (HSJ) scale aimed at evaluating individuals’ tendency to justify the honor system in the society. Initially, a 28-item pool was generated based on honor literature and the phrases expressed in the reports and news. An adult sample consisting of 433 participants (275 women, 158 men; Mage = 31.77, SDage = 7.61) was employed in the study. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses suggested a one-factor 10-item solution, explaining 52.34% of the variance. Factor loadings ranged from .67 to .79 and item-total correlations ranged between .58 and .72. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for HSJ scale was .90. The significant correlation of HSJ with other honor-related variables (honor endorsement, attitudes toward violence against women for protecting honor) as well as other system justification ideologies (gender system justification, benevolent and hostile sexism) demonstrates the scale’s validity. In conclusion, the results of the psychometric analyses showed that HSJ is a reliable and valid self-report measure that can be used in honor-related research. Keywords System justification, honor, gender, scale development

scholarly journals Revisiting 25 years of system motivation explanation for system justification from the perspective of social identity model of system attitudes

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chuma Kevin Owuamalam ◽  
Mark Rubin ◽  
Russell Spears
Keyword(s):  
Social Identity ◽  
Cognitive Dissonance ◽  
Social System ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
System Justification ◽  
System Justification Theory ◽  
Knowing That ◽  
Parsimonious Explanation ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Identity Model

Do the disadvantaged have an autonomous system justification motivation that operates against their personal and group interests? System justification theory (SJT; Jost & Banaji, 1994) proposes that they do, and that this motivation helps to (a) reduce cognitive dissonance and associated uncertainties and (b) soothe the pain that is associated with knowing that one’s group is subject to social inequality. However, 25 years of research on this system justification motivation has given rise to several theoretical and empirical inconsistencies. The present article argues that these inconsistencies can be resolved by a social identity model of system attitudes (SIMSA; Owuamalam, Rubin, & Spears, 2018). SIMSA assumes that instances of system justification are often in alignment with (rather than opposed to) the interests of the disadvantaged. According to SIMSA, the disadvantaged may support social systems (a) in order to acknowledge social reality, (b) when they perceive the wider social system to constitute a superordinate ingroup, and (c) because they hope to improve their ingroup’s status through existing channels in the long run. These propositions are corroborated by existing and emerging evidence. We conclude that SIMSA offers a more coherent and parsimonious explanation for system justification than does SJT.

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