Research conducted in France and Portugal has consistently found that expressing high versus low Belief in a Personal Just World (BJW-P) is more socially valued. Results concerning the Belief in a General Just World (BJW-G) have been mixed. We propose this reflects a higher resistance of BJW-P social value to contextual changes. Testing this idea was the main goal of three experimental studies conducted in France, Germany and Portugal. In Study 1 (N = 283) participants expressed higher BJW-G when asked to convey a positive versus a negative image in a job application at a bank. The opposite pattern showed up when they applied for a job at a Human Rights NGO, an employment assistance institution and a trade union. Participants expressed higher BJW-P in all contexts, except at the trade union (no significant differences). In Study 2 (N = 489) participants judged bogus candidates who expressed high or low BJW-P/G while applying for a job at the same contexts. The patterns of judgments replicated those of self-presentations in Study 1. In Study 3 (N = 158), participants were asked to judge targets who expressed high versus moderate versus low BJW-P at a trade union. The former target was more socially valued than the other two. High versus low BJW-P expression was associated with higher stamina and less unadjusted self-enhancement. We conclude that in Western societies the expression of BJW-P is more central to the legitimation of the status quo and that of BJW-G is more context sensitive.

中文翻译：

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在不同背景下在正义世界中表达个人和普遍信仰的社会价值

在法国和葡萄牙进行的研究始终发现，在个人公正世界（BJW-P）中表达高信仰与低信仰具有更高的社会价值。关于在一般正义世界中信仰（BJW-G）的结果好坏参半。我们认为这反映了BJW-P社会价值对语境变化的更高抵抗力。测试这一想法是在法国，德国和葡萄牙进行的三项实验研究的主要目标。在研究1（N= 283），当参与者被要求在银行的工作申请中传达正面或负面图像时，他们表现出更高的BJW-G。当他们向人权非政府组织，就业援助机构和工会申请工作时，情况恰恰相反。除了工会以外，参与者在所有情况下的BJW-P都较高（无显着差异）。在研究2中（N = 489），参与者判断在相同背景下求职时表达高或低BJW-P / G的虚假候选人。判断的模式重复了研究1中的自我陈述。在研究3中（N= 158），要求参与者判断在工会中表示BJW-P高，中，低的目标。前一个目标比其他两个目标更具社会价值。高BJW-P表达与低BJW-P表达具有较高的耐力和较少的未经调节的自我增强。我们得出的结论是，在西方社会中，BJW-P的表达对于维持现状的合法性更为重要，而BJW-G的表达则对上下文更加敏感。