Beliefs injustice and faith in people:: just world, religiosity and interpersonal trust

Fifty-eight French subjects (28 women and 30 men, 16-65 years) from diverse occupational status completed Belief in a Just World Scales for Self and Others [Lipkus, I. M., & Bissonnette, V. L. (1996). Relationships among belief in a just world, willingness to accomodate, and marital well being. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 22(10), 1043-1056.] Belief in Immanent and Ultimate Justice Scales [Maes, J. (1998), Immanent justice and ultimate justice: two ways of believing in justice. In L. Montada, & M. J. Lerner, Responses to victimizations and belief in a just world (pp. 9 -40). New York: Plenum Press], and a measure of Interpersonal Trust adapted from Wrightsman [Wrightsman, L. (1991). Interpersonal trust and attitudes toward human nature. In J. P. Robinson, P. R. Shaver, & L. S. Wrightsman, Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes (pp. 373-412). New York: Academic Press]. Religious commitment was also measured. As hypothesized, results indicated that Belief in a Just World (BJW) for Self, BJW for Others and religious commitment were positively correlated with Interpersonal trust (r=0.51, 0.54 and 0.34). No gender differences appeared on any scale. A regression analysis indicated that BJW for Others and religious commitment accounted for 36% of explained variance in the prediction of interpersonal trust. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.