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Social disadvantage and the self-regulatory function of justice beliefs.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Laurin, K; Fitzsimons, GM; Kay, AC
Published in: Journal of personality and social psychology
January 2011

Five studies support the hypothesis that beliefs in societal fairness offer a self-regulatory benefit for members of socially disadvantaged groups. Specifically, members of disadvantaged groups are more likely than members of advantaged groups to calibrate their pursuit of long-term goals to their beliefs about societal fairness. In Study 1, low socioeconomic status (SES) undergraduate students who believed more strongly in societal fairness showed greater intentions to persist in the face of poor performance on a midterm examination. In Study 2, low SES participants who believed more strongly in fairness reported more willingness to invest time and effort to achieve desirable career outcomes. In Study 3, ethnic minority participants exposed to a manipulation suggesting that fairness conditions in their country were improving reported more willingness to invest resources in pursuit of long-term goals, relative to ethnic minority participants in a control condition. Study 4 replicated Study 3 using an implicit priming procedure, demonstrating that perceptions of the personal relevance of societal fairness mediate these effects. Across these 4 studies, no link between fairness beliefs and self-regulation emerged for members of advantaged (high SES, ethnic majority) groups. Study 5 contributed evidence from the World Values Survey and a representative sample (Inglehart, Basañez, Diez-Medrano, Halman, & Luijkx, 2004). Respondents reported more motivation to work hard to the extent that they believed that rewards were distributed fairly; this effect emerged more strongly for members of lower SES groups than for members of higher SES groups, as indicated by both self-identified social class and ethnicity.

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Published In

Journal of personality and social psychology

DOI

EISSN

1939-1315

ISSN

0022-3514

Publication Date

January 2011

Volume

100

Issue

1

Start / End Page

149 / 171

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Social Psychology
  • Social Justice
  • Social Control, Informal
  • Poverty
  • Motivation
  • Minority Groups
  • Male
 

Citation

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Laurin, K., Fitzsimons, G. M., & Kay, A. C. (2011). Social disadvantage and the self-regulatory function of justice beliefs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(1), 149–171. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021343
Laurin, Kristin, Gráinne M. Fitzsimons, and Aaron C. Kay. “Social disadvantage and the self-regulatory function of justice beliefs.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 100, no. 1 (January 2011): 149–71. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0021343.
Laurin K, Fitzsimons GM, Kay AC. Social disadvantage and the self-regulatory function of justice beliefs. Journal of personality and social psychology. 2011 Jan;100(1):149–71.
Laurin, Kristin, et al. “Social disadvantage and the self-regulatory function of justice beliefs.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 100, no. 1, Jan. 2011, pp. 149–71. Epmc, doi:10.1037/a0021343.
Laurin K, Fitzsimons GM, Kay AC. Social disadvantage and the self-regulatory function of justice beliefs. Journal of personality and social psychology. 2011 Jan;100(1):149–171.

Published In

Journal of personality and social psychology

DOI

EISSN

1939-1315

ISSN

0022-3514

Publication Date

January 2011

Volume

100

Issue

1

Start / End Page

149 / 171

Related Subject Headings

  • Young Adult
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Social Psychology
  • Social Justice
  • Social Control, Informal
  • Poverty
  • Motivation
  • Minority Groups
  • Male