Although epistemic needs motivate the endorsement of system-justifying beliefs, few studies have investigated moderators of this association. Here, we argue that because being the target of discrimination should undermine one’s sense of control, the association between epistemic needs and system-justifying beliefs should be stronger for disadvantaged (vs. advantaged) groups. As hypothesized, analyses of a nation-wide random sample of adults (N = 14,929) revealed that the negative relationship between openness to experience (i.e., an indicator of low epistemic needs) and multiple system-justifying beliefs (i.e., gender-based system justification, right-wing political preference, and conservative party support) was stronger for women (vs. men), and that these moderated associations were mediated by perceptions of gender discrimination. Our results suggest that women may sometimes endorse beliefs that conflict with their self and group interests in order to satisfy their epistemic needs.

尽管认识的需求促使人们认可系统合理性信念，但很少有研究调查这种关联的主持人。在这里，我们认为由于歧视的目标会破坏一个人的控制感，因此，对于弱势群体（相对于优势群体）而言，认知需求与系统合理化信念之间的关联应更强。作为假设，分析成年人全国性随机样本（Ñ= 14,929）表明，对经验的开放性（即，认知需求低的指标）与多种系统合理化信念（即，基于性别的系统合理性，右翼政治偏好和保守党的支持）之间的负面关系更强对于女性（相对于男性）而言，这些适度的联想是由对性别歧视的感知所介导的。我们的研究结果表明，为了满足自己的认知需求，女性有时可能会认可与自身和群体利益相冲突的信念。