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politics
You feel an unconscious pressure to justify social fairness.
People consistently defend the legitimacy of the status quo to maintain psychological stability and a sense of control.
Research indicates that even those who are disadvantaged by a current system often perceive it as fair and legitimate. This cognitive drive minimizes the discomfort of inequality by rationalizing existing power structures as necessary or deserved.
We prefer believing the world is just over facing its randomness.
Where this comes from
- Study
- Jost and Banaji, 1994
- What the check found
- The claim accurately summarizes the core premise of System Justification Theory as introduced in the cited 1994 paper by Jost and Banaji.
- Confidence
- Solid, with limits
Related
One of these every day, and every one names the study it came from. When a finding is contested, it says so.