Prior research has demonstrated that adolescence is a sensitive period to develop their belief in a just world (BJW), both general and personal. Research has found significant relationships between BJW, perceptions of school fairness, student conduct, and perceptions of legal authorities. However, no research has combined these constructs in one model to get a broader picture of how adolescents construct their worldview of fairness and how this influences their compliance with authorities. This study analyzed 475 Brazilian adolescents across three schools. A partially mediated and a mediated model were tested to determine if students’ BJW relate directly or indirectly to student conduct and perceptions of legal authorities through school fairness. The partially mediated model best fit the data. Personal BJW predicted students’ perceptions of the school fairness, which predicted student conduct. General BJW and school fairness predicted adolescents’ perceptions of legal authorities. Perceptions of school fairness are influenced by Personal BJW and are predictive of students’ conduct and opinions of legal authorities. By analyzing multiple constructs simultaneously, this study provides a picture of how these overlapping conceptualizations of justice interact. Students who do not believe their school is fair are less likely to respect and abide by the rules and are more likely to also expect unfair treatment from law enforcement and judicial officials. This study points to the importance of students’ perceptions of justice at school and highlights the far-reaching implications of students who do not perceive or expect justice in their lives.

中文翻译：

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巴西青少年的正义世界信仰及其与学校公平，学生行为和法律权威的关系

先前的研究表明，青春期是发展他们对普通和个人公正世界（BJW）信念的敏感时期。研究发现，BJW，对学校公正性的看法，学生行为与法律权威的看法之间存在显着的关系。但是，没有研究将这些结构组合到一个模型中，以更全面地了解青少年如何构建其公平的世界观，以及这如何影响其对权威的遵守。这项研究分析了三所学校中的475名巴西青少年。测试了部分中介和中介模型，以确定学生的BJW是否通过学校公平直接或间接与学生的行为和对法律权威的看法有关。部分介导的模型最适合数据。个人BJW可以预测学生对学校公平的看法，从而可以预测学生的行为。普通BJW和学校公平预示着青少年对法律权威的看法。对学校公平的看法受个人BJW的影响，可以预测学生的行为和法律权威的意见。通过同时分析多种结构，本研究提供了这些重叠的正义概念如何相互作用的图片。认为自己的学校不公平的学生不太可能尊重和遵守规定，更可能期望执法人员和司法人员给予不公平的待遇。