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Xu R, Ding Y, Guo Y, van Prooijen JW. System-justifying beliefs buffer against psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. BRITISH JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2024. [PMID: 38923576 DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12779] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Accepted: 06/12/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a detrimental effect on people's mental health. Drawing on the palliative function of ideologies, we suggest that people rely on system-justifying beliefs to mitigate psychological distress during the pandemic. We conducted three studies with correlational and experimental designs to examine whether and how system-justifying beliefs can buffer against psychological distress during COVID-19, and whether this effect may vary across social classes. The results indicated that (a) system-justifying beliefs alleviated psychological distress during the pandemic, (b) personal control mediated this relationship and (c) this effect was consistent across all social classes. This study provides robust evidence for the palliative function of system-justifying beliefs during a massive global health crisis (i.e. COVID-19).
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Affiliation(s)
- Ronghua Xu
- School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yi Ding
- School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yongyu Guo
- School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
| | - Jan-Willem van Prooijen
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- The Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Department of Criminal law and Criminology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands
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2
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Rubin M, Kevin Owuamalam C, Spears R, Caricati L. A social identity model of system attitudes (SIMSA): Multiple explanations of system justification by the disadvantaged that do not depend on a separate system justification motive. EUROPEAN REVIEW OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2023. [DOI: 10.1080/10463283.2022.2046422] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/12/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mark Rubin
- Durham University and the University of Newcastle, Australia
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3
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Rubin M, Owuamalam CK, Spears R, Caricati L. Social identity explanations of system justification: Misconceptions, criticisms, and clarifications. EUROPEAN REVIEW OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2023. [DOI: 10.1080/10463283.2023.2184578] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/17/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Mark Rubin
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | | | - Russell Spears
- Faculty of Behavioural and Social Science, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Luca Caricati
- Dipartimento di Discipline Umanistiche, Socali e delle Impresse Culturali, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy
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Owuamalam CK, Caricati L, Spears R, Rubin M, Marinucci M, Ferrari A. Further evidence that system justification amongst the disadvantaged is positively related to superordinate group identification. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2023; 232:103813. [PMID: 36580833 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2022.103813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/04/2022] [Revised: 12/13/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Members of disadvantaged groups sometimes support societal systems that enable the very inequalities that disadvantaged them. Is it possible to explain this puzzling system-justifying orientation in terms of rational group-interested motives, without recourse to a separate system motive? The social identity model of system attitudes (SIMSA) claims that it is. SIMSA proposes that the system justification shown by a disadvantaged group (e.g., African American women) can sometimes support identity needs that are tied to a more inclusive (superordinate) in-group (e.g., Americans). There is already some supportive evidence for this proposition, but it is not yet clear whether: (1) such trends are visible in a wider range of disadvantaged contexts, and (2) this explanation also applies to those who are strongly invested in their subgroup (e.g., feminists). In two waves of a large nationally representative survey from 21 to 23 European states (Ntotal = 84,572) and two controlled experiments (Ntotal = 290 women), we found that: (a) system justification was positively associated with superordinate ingroup identification across multiple cases of disadvantage (Studies 1-3), (b) system justification increased when this inclusive identity was made more salient (Studies 2 & 3), and (c) system justification was visible even amongst feminists when they activated their superordinate (Italian) identity (Study 3).
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Caricati L, Owuamalam CK, Casini A, Passini S, Moscato G. Editorial: Exploring system justification phenomenon among disadvantaged individuals. Front Psychol 2023; 13:1104400. [PMID: 36687919 PMCID: PMC9850148 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1104400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Luca Caricati
- Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries, University of Parma, Parma, Italy,*Correspondence: Luca Caricati ✉
| | - Chuma Kevin Owuamalam
- Department of Psychology, Reed College, Portland, OR, United States,Chuma Kevin Owuamalam ✉
| | - Annalisa Casini
- Psychological Sciences Research Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
| | - Stefano Passini
- Department of Education Studies, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Gianluigi Moscato
- Department of Social Psychology, Social Work, Social Anthropology and East Asian Studies, University of Malaga, Málaga, Spain
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Owuamalam CK, Tan CM, Caricati L, Rubin M, Spears R. Cultural group norms for harmony explain the puzzling negative association between objective status and system justification in Asia. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Chee Meng Tan
- Nottingham Business School University of Nottingham Malaysia Semenyih Selangor Malaysia
| | - Luca Caricati
- Department of Humanities Social Sciences and Cultural Industries, University of Parma Italy
| | - Mark Rubin
- Department of Psychology Durham University Durham UK
| | - Russell Spears
- Department of Social Psychology University of Groningen Netherlands
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Owuamalam CK, Rubin M, Spears R. Brexit and Trump: Which Theory of Social Stasis and Social Change Copes Best With the New Populism? Front Psychol 2022; 13:797139. [PMID: 35719587 PMCID: PMC9204266 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.797139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Why do voters seek to change the political landscape or to retain it? System justification theory (SJT) proposes that a separate system motive to preserve the existing order drives support for the status-quo, and that this motivation operates independently from personal and collective interests. But how does this explanation apply to recent populist shifts in the political order such as Brexit and the emergence of Donald Trump? While the system motive may seem useful in understanding why the usual progressives (Remain/Clinton voters) may want to stick with an established order, it seems insufficient to explain why the more conservative voters (Brexit/Trump voters) would want to upend the establishment. Thus, we compared SJT’s system motive explanation for the system attitudes of voters on both sides of the political divide to an alternative explanation drawn from the newer social identity model of system attitudes (SIMSA). According to SIMSA, the difficulty in explaining the system attitudes of Brexit/Trump and Remain/Clinton voters from SJT’s system motive standpoint can be resolved by focusing instead on the collective interests that both camps seek to satisfy with their votes. We examined these explanations in two studies conducted soon after Brexit (N = 313) and Trump’s election (N = 289) in 2016, with results providing more support for SIMSA than for SJT.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuma Kevin Owuamalam
- Division of Organizational and Applied Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Semenyih, Malaysia
| | - Mark Rubin
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Russell Spears
- Department of Social Psychology, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
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Yang L, Tang S, Li K. The Influence of the Disadvantaged Mindset on System-Justifying Beliefs. Front Psychol 2022; 12:787417. [PMID: 35185689 PMCID: PMC8850299 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.787417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Accepted: 12/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
System justification theory holds that disadvantaged groups rationalize the current social system, even if it is unfavorable to them. Epistemic, relational, and existential needs are factors that explain this phenomenon. However, the literature has not yet examined and explained when disadvantaged groups no longer rationalize current social systems. This study uses a questionnaire survey method (N = 745) to study the moderating effect of collectivism on disadvantaged mindset and system-justifying beliefs. It found that collectivism can influence the predictive effect of disadvantaged mindset on system-justifying beliefs. For people who scored low in collectivism, a disadvantaged mindset can significantly negatively predict system-justifying beliefs; for those who scored high in collectivism, a disadvantaged mindset no longer predicts system-justifying beliefs. Therefore, these results show that collectivist values are important for explaining system justification in disadvantaged groups. When collectivist values decline, the level of rationalization of the social system by disadvantaged groups also decreases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lihua Yang
- School of Foreign Languages, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| | - Shujun Tang
- School of Marxism, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
| | - Kai Li
- School of Psychology, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
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Mao JY, van Prooijen JW, Yang SL, Guo YY. System Threat during a Pandemic: How Conspiracy Theories Help to Justify the System. JOURNAL OF PACIFIC RIM PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1177/18344909211057001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia-Yan Mao
- School of Teacher Education, Nanjing Normal University
| | | | | | - Yong-Yu Guo
- School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University
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Caricati L, Owuamalam CK, Bonetti C. Do Superordinate Identification and Temporal/Social Comparisons Independently Predict Citizens' System Trust? Evidence From a 40-Nation Survey. Front Psychol 2021; 12:745168. [PMID: 34803829 PMCID: PMC8603914 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.745168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 09/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Do superordinate in-group bias as well as temporal and social comparisons offer standalone explanations for system justification? We addressed this question using the latest World Value Survey (7th Wave), combining the responses of 55,721 participants from 40 different nations. Results from a random slope multilevel model showed that superordinate (national) identification, temporal comparison (i.e., the outcomes of an individual relative to those of his/her parents at different time points), and social comparison (based on income levels) were independent and positive predictors of system justification. Specifically, system justification increased when national identification was high, when income increased (i.e., the socioeconomic comparison was positive), and when the outcomes of citizens improved relative to the outcomes of their parents at relevant time points (i.e., the temporal comparison was positive). Incidentally, we also observed an interaction between national identification and temporal comparison (but not with social comparison), indicating that positive temporal comparison seemed to have a reduced effect (but still significant) for highly identified citizens. These results are supportive of the social identity approach to system justification and suggest that support for societal systems is a positive function of people’s personal and group interests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Caricati
- University of Parma, Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries, Parma, Italy
| | - Chuma Kevin Owuamalam
- Division of Organisational and Applied Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
| | - Chiara Bonetti
- University of Parma, Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries, Parma, Italy
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Support for group-based inequality among members of low-status groups as an ingroup status-enhancement strategy. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL BULLETIN 2021. [DOI: 10.32872/spb.5451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
We discuss the idea that competition-based motives boost low-status group members’ support for group-based hierarchy and inequality. Specifically, the more low-status group members feel motivated to compete with a relevant high-status outgroup, based on the belief that existing status positions may be reversed, the more they will defend status differentials (i.e., high social dominance orientation; SDO). Using minimal groups (N = 113), we manipulated ingroup (low vs. high) status, and primed unstable status positions to all participants. As expected, we found that SDO positively mediates the relation between ingroup identification and collective action, when ingroup’s status is perceived to be low and status positions are perceived as highly unstable. We discuss the implications of considering situational and contextual factors to better understand individuals’ support for group-based hierarchies and inequality, and the advantages of considering ideological processes in predicting collective action.
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Ingroup identification, hope and system justification: Testing hypothesis from social identity model of system attitudes (SIMSA) in a sample of LGBTQIA+ individuals. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-02062-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe social identity model of system attitudes (SIMSA) suggests that system justification among low-status groups can be explained by ingroup identification and the hope for a collective future improvement. In this report, we summarize the results of a cross-sectional investigation concerning the relationship between system justification, hope and identification based on a sample of 200 LGBTQIA+ individuals (identifying themselves as non-normative with respect to gender identity and sexual orientation). The results were supportive of SIMSA expectations and showed that system justification was positively linked to hope for future advancement. Importantly, hope played a key role influencing the relations between ingroup identification and perceived ingroup status: for low-status individuals who had high hope, ingroup identification was positively associated with system justification. Limits are acknowledged.
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Owuamalam CK, Caricati L, Rubin M, Matos AS, Spears R. Why do women support socio‐economic systems that favour men more? A registered test of system justification‐ and social identity‐inspired hope explanations. EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Mark Rubin
- The University of Newcastle Callaghan NSW Australia
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Szabó ZP, Lönnqvist JE. Who's in power matters: System justification and system derogation in Hungary between 2002 and 2018. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY 2021; 56:679-687. [PMID: 33588518 DOI: 10.1002/ijop.12747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2020] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The present study employed European Social Survey (ESS) data collected between 2002 and 2018 to investigate system justification versus derogation in Hungary. In all nine ESS rounds, system derogation was stronger than system justification. System justification was consistently at its strongest among those who had voted for the ruling party, be it left-wing MSZP (until 2008) or right-wing Fidesz (2010 onward). This pattern can be explained by ego and group justification motives alone, with no need to posit an autonomous system justification motive. Voters of Jobbik, who were as right-wing as Fidesz voters, but whose party was not in power, did not believe the system to be any more just than did left-wing voters. Much of the research supporting system justification theory has been conducted in stable Western democracies. Our results highlight the need for research in more politically volatile contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zsolt Péter Szabó
- Department of Ergonomics and Psychology, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Jan-Erik Lönnqvist
- Swedish School of Social Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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Caricati L, Owuamalam CK. System Justification Among the Disadvantaged: A Triadic Social Stratification Perspective. Front Psychol 2020; 11:40. [PMID: 32116893 PMCID: PMC7025556 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2019] [Accepted: 01/08/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Luca Caricati
- Department of Humanities, Social Sciences and Cultural Industries, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
| | - Chuma K. Owuamalam
- Division of Organisational and Applied Psychology, University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, Semenyih, Malaysia
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Owuamalam CK, Spears R. Do humans possess an autonomous system justification motivation? A Pupillometric test of the strong system justification thesis. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2019.103897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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