ReportsEffects of status and outcome on attributions and just-world beliefs: How the social distribution of success and failure may be rationalized
Section snippets
Attribution to ability vs. effort
Attributions are largely driven by the dominant ideas and ways of making sense circulating in society (Deschamps and Beauvois, 1994, Moscovici, 1984), as illustrated in a number of studies on the perceived causes of poverty and/or wealth (e.g. Cozzarelli et al., 2001, Feagin, 1972, Forgas et al., 1982). So far, research has established the justificatory function of attributions for the outcomes of social groups holding asymmetrical positions by pointing to systematic differences in the use of
Beliefs in a just world
Just-world theory (Lerner, 1980) posits that individuals need to believe that good and bad outcomes, as well as rewards and punishments, are not distributed at random. At an early age, people learn that the world is a place where additional investment may entitle them to better outcomes, and subsequently conduct their adult lives accordingly. In a ‘just-world’ order, low-status groups seem doomed to failure, whereas high-status groups are bound to succeed (for a review see Furnham, 2003). This
Participants and experimental design
One hundred and twenty-six university students of both sexes (56 male and 70 female), aged 18–29 (Mage = 20.1), from one of three universities in Athens, participated in this study. Participants were randomly assigned to the four experimental conditions, in a 2 (outcome: success vs. failure) × 2 (status: High vs. Low) between-participants factorial design.
Procedure
Data were collected in a few sessions in the classroom, each session lasting approximately 30 min. Participants were asked to take part
Results
Seven of the 126 participants, evenly distributed across experimental conditions (χ2(1) = .06, ns), failed the manipulation checks and their data were excluded from further analysis.
Discussion
One way in which lay theories and beliefs explain the distribution of outcomes to social groups might be the systematic variation in the attribution of success and failure to ability and effort. Participants in this study generally endorsed effort more than ability as a causal attribution, probably reflecting the emphasis laid on effort within the present type of societal organization, where diligence is worshiped as the cornerstone of individual mobility, and where common assumptions such as
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Bernard Weiner for his kind suggestions and help with attribution measures, and Jamin Halberstadt for his comments on earlier drafts of this paper.
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