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Effects of Victimization on the Belief in a Just World in Four Ex-Yugoslavian Countries

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Abstract

Levels of support for just world beliefs among young adults (N = 598) from four ex-Yugoslavian countries—Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Slovenia—were compared, taking into account victimization experiences and the general belief in a just world. Being a victim affected an individual’s belief in a just world in the two less economically favored contexts: Victims of exclusion in Macedonia and victims of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina were less likely to believe in a just world than non-victims. These victimization variables partly explained why the mean scores of these two countries were less than those of the two others. A deleterious effect of cumulative negative events on belief in a just world was identified, in parallel with a lower endorsement of the belief when the first victimization occurred more recently.

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Notes

  1. For all of the following analyses, the effects of age and gender were tested. Given that there was no statistically significant effect of age on the belief in a just world and only a marginal effect of sex in Croatia (women believed more than men), which did not alter the remaining results, these variables were not included in the reported analyses.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Willem Doise and Guy Elcheroth for their thoughtful comments on a previous version of this manuscript. This study was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, Grant No 101412-103664/1, and 100012-109623/1, and by the PaVie Center for Life Course and Life Style Studies, University of Lausanne.

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Correspondence to Rachel Fasel.

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Fasel, R., Spini, D. Effects of Victimization on the Belief in a Just World in Four Ex-Yugoslavian Countries. Soc Just Res 23, 17–36 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-010-0111-6

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