“It’s my own fault”: why we need to admit that the world is unfair

What a myth of a just world

The phenomenon of a just world is based on the belief in the following: everything that happens to people is not accidental. They get what they deserve in terms of the totality of their actions and personal qualities.

This concept was introduced by the psychologist Melvin Lerner in the 1980s. He conducted a series of experiments that allowed him to draw conclusions about how people evaluate a person depending on the situation.

In one experiment, participants were shown photographs of different people. But in some cases, it was mentioned that the personages from the images won the lottery. Then the subjects believed that the people in the photographs had outstanding qualities, and generally rated them more positively. After all, they cannot be lucky just like that, which means they deserve it.

In another experiment, subjects were shown a lesson in which a person was shocked for incorrect answers. It was a production with an actor, but the observers were not aware. If a person could not leave and avoid punishment, the subjects rated him worse than the one who could get up and leave.

Belief in a just world exists for a reason. It is a powerful psychological defense that can help relieve anxiety. If you constantly remember that the world is unfair and something terrible can happen to you, not far from depression, mental disorders and other negative consequences. Therefore, it is very convenient to assume that the Universe lives by certain rules. If you follow them, everything will be fine with you, you are invulnerable.

At the same time, this idea helps to believe that all offenders will be punished. This is especially important when the victim has no leverage over the aggressor. He can only hope for the boomerang law, karma, or a divine plan.

Why the myth of a just world is bad

At first glance, belief in a just world looks good. It helps you stay calm and less anxious. Plus, this concept encourages some to be better. A person wants to receive a reward for good behavior and therefore, for example, transfers money to a charitable foundation. But there is also a negative side.

Victimblaming

Belief in a just world implies that everyone gets what they deserve. This means that people themselves are to blame for their problems. It is from here that the victim-blaming feet grow - the victim's accusations.

Under any criminal news, in different versions, there will be comments in the style of "it is his own fault". This is especially true for victims of violence. They were not dressed like that, they were walking in the wrong place and with the wrong ones, they looked wrong, they said the wrong thing. And no, you don't think: commentators are really looking for excuses for the aggressor. They try to find reasons why the victim can be attacked, although there are none. This is just how faith in a just world works.

If a person is in trouble, it means that he deserved it, broke the rules. But there are no such rules, rape and any other offense is always a criminal's choice.

Of course, this does not only work with crime victims. Many children are familiar with the situation when you come to your parents, complain about the offender, and they ask you: "What did you do wrong?"

People are trying to somehow rationalize the horror that is happening around and often at the same time simply go beyond the bounds of reason. Does the person have cancer? So he probably did something bad. Is this a nursing baby who hasn't had time to do anything yet? It's just that his grandmother was a witch, and now seven generations are cursed.

So it is obvious what is wrong with thoughtless belief in a just world. The assertion that a person is to blame for his own misfortunes is far from always true. In this case, the victim - a person or a circumstance - is injured again instead of counting on help. At the same time, the aggressor is relieved of responsibility for his actions, or even completely justified, because he only punished the victim for improper behavior.

Inaction

A person's life can be full of suffering. There are homeless people, starving people living below the poverty line. The myth of a just world allows you to ignore all this and drown out remorse when you can help, but you do not.

Homeless? Why did he lose his home? I probably drank everything. Or he likes to live on the street. And anyway, where are his relatives! Probably, he was so disgusting that everyone turned away from him,”- this is how it works. Although the statistics of the Nochlezhka charity foundation makes it clear that the reasons for homelessness are different. And very often you can change a person's life simply by providing him with help on time.

Similarly, the attitude of people with privileges to inequality is formed. For example, in 2016, then Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov spoke about the buyers of apartments with an area of 20 square meters: "It seems ridiculous, but people buy such housing, and it is very popular." Just from the post of an official, it is not clear that the demand for small-sized housing arises not because people are such fools and choose it from a variety of proposals, but because they have no other options.

There are examples that are closer to the people. For example, the notorious “why doesn’t she leave”, addressed to victims of domestic violence from people who have never encountered it. It is much easier to think that there is no problem than to understand how the abuser works and why it is not so easy to get away from him.

And since everyone around us is to blame, this allows us to live happily and not delve into other people's problems.

Unnecessary sacrifice

When a person himself gets into trouble, he is inclined to blame not himself, but the circumstances. This is a fundamental attribution error: we underestimate the impact of a situation on other people's behavior and overestimate the contribution of their personality.

However, sometimes the bad consequences of believing in a just world are reflected in its bearer. He does not ask the question "For what?" He accepts the rules of the game and thinks that he deserves everything that happens. And if so, then it is useless to resist.

Dealing with the myth of a just world

The approaches described above lead to dire consequences. We cannot influence the circumstances, but the laws of society are formed by the people themselves. And the more we rely on a just world, the more injustice is done - at our filing.

It is not worth saying goodbye to the myth as soon as possible: it is still a psychological defense and it is important. But sometimes you need to stick your head out of the shell and admit that the world is unfair. The universe will not put everything in its place. But we can slightly influence the situation.

Rethinking a myth can be painful. It is not known what is sadder: to understand that the villain will not boomerang of other people's suffering, or to admit that bad things happen to good people. But if one day instead of passing by with the thought “it’s his own fault,” you lend a helping hand to someone, it will be good. And sometimes it’s enough just not to kick someone who’s on the edge of the abyss.