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Just-world Bias

 


Human beings have infinite ways of deluding themselves. ‘Just-world bias’ is just one of them. It is the belief that we live in a just world which rewards us for our good deeds and punishes for the evil ones. In other words, we believe that there is a moral order in the world or the universe by which our actions merit just consequences. You get what you deserve. What you reap is what you sowed. What goes around comes around. Karma. Most religions believe in the just-world concept in one form or another. In religions, a god or some divine entity controls this system. Many people who are not religious believe in a universal force that maintains this moral balance.

The naked truth is that there is no such force or divine entity dishing out justice to us from somewhere out there. The death of an innocent child due to a pandemic alone should be enough to make us realise that the heavens are not a bit as fair as we would wish them to be. We can choose to hoodwink ourselves with beliefs such as punishment for the sins of one’s previous birth. The child is paying for the sins of its previous birth. Dharma is religiously vindictive. Or you may believe that the child is paying for the sins of its parents. “If the fathers eat sour grapes, the children’s teeth are set on edge,” says the Bible.

When the coronavirus started killing thousands of people, many religious leaders ascribed it to God’s way of punishing us for our sins of commission and omission. “Thank God for the coronavirus” was the title of a sermon preached by Omar Ricci at the Islamic Centre of Southern California when the pandemic had started extracting its toll. The coronavirus was Allah’s gift to mankind, according to this religious leader. Many Christian and other religious preachers said the same thing in different words: God is reminding us of our need to repent and mend our ways.

It is very convenient to have a god sitting somewhere up there and serve as the Great Arbiter of human actions. It gives a heavenly bliss to some people to believe that the meltdown of the World Trade Centre was a divine retribution for the American sins.

Whether it is a natural disaster like a pandemic or a manmade evil like a terrorist attack, the just-world bias can justify it easily. The just-world bias is an acceptance of evil, so to say. The psychology department of the University of Kassel, Germany, conducted a research on the correlation between belief in just world and dishonesty. The research showed a strong link between the belief in just world and antisocial tendencies. It is easy to convert your wicked deeds into holy ones if you can give your deeds a moral sanction coming from a god or religion or something as holy as that. Were the crusaders of the Dark Ages saints or antisocial elements in religious garbs? What about the religious terrorists of today? What about the nationalists of present India?

You can convert your wickedness into holiness just by convincing yourself and a significant number of others that your act is a divine retribution for the wrongs done by any community. The Kassel University research found strong correlation between the just-world bias and religiousness on the one hand, and antisocial tendencies as well as exploitation and victimisation of others, on the other. That is, those who believe in the just-world notion tend to be religious and antisocial and exploitative.

To sum up, the just-world bias is a self-delusion. It gives you the comfort of thinking that the other people deserve the calamities they are suffering. It is also an indirect way of patting yourself on the back that you are better than them and that is why the calamity did not visit you. What’s more, it makes you feel that none less than god himself is on your side.

 

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Read the previous parts of this series below:

A: Absurdity

B: Bandwagon Effect

C: Chiquitita’s Sorrows

D: Delusions

E: Ego Integrity

F: Fictional Finalism

G: The Good Child

H: Humanism: Celebration of Life

I: Intelligence is not enough

Tomorrow: Kafka’s Prison

 

Comments

  1. This made for an interesting read. Had no idea that just-world bias is a concept on its own. Though i agree with most of the points you mentioned there
    Deepika Sharma

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. People have more biases and delusions than truths. But they pretend otherwise.

      Delete
  2. Also its a convenient way of absolving yourself of any responsibility or accountability - no?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, indeed. It's facile to shift responsibility to some divine entity.

      Delete
  3. Had no idea about this just-world bias concept. but it really makes you really think about your perceptions

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My purpose is precisely to set readers thinking. Glad you said that the post achieves that.

      Delete
  4. God loves all His children.
    But, still we all have different lives.
    Bias or karma or payback...no one knows. But, like Newton's Law in Physics, all religions have this- 'every action has an equal & opposite reaction'.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, Newton has his place, no doubt. But not in universe's morality.

      Delete
  5. Just World , I wonder if anything is 'just' now a days! The political scenario, the religious fanaticism, the extremities of fake propaganda and the consequences compel us to re think this very concept. I enjoyed reading your post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a highly unjust world. But most people believe otherwise. Strange.

      Delete
  6. analytical, honest and straight as always. I'm honoured to have you in my space.

    ReplyDelete

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