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Social Justice Research

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01-12-2014

Beliefs in a Just World, Subjective Well-Being and Attitudes Towards Refugees Among Refugee Workers

Authors: Maya L. K. Khera, Annelie J. Harvey, Mitchell J. Callan

Published in: Social Justice Research | Issue 4/2014

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Abstract

Previous research has shown that the belief that the world is fair to the self (BJW-self) is positively related to indices of subjective well-being, whereas the belief that the world is fair to others (BJW-others) is positively related to harsher social attitudes. The present study aims to investigate the relation between these two forms of beliefs in a just world and the subjective well-being and social attitudes of people working with refugees. A sample of 253 refugee workers completed measures of BJW-others, BJW-self, perceived stress, life satisfaction, attitudes towards refugees and empathy for refugees. We found that refugee workers with stronger BJW-self reported experiencing less stress and more life satisfaction. Stronger BJW-others, however, predicted harsher attitudes towards refugees while controlling for BJW-self. These findings highlight the important function that justice beliefs play in the subjective well-being and social attitudes of refugee workers.

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A reviewer aptly noted the importance of controlling for the number of years the participants worked with refugees in these analyses because refugee workers need to cope with the consequences of their work over time. The number of years working with refugees did not correlate significantly with either BJW-self or BJW-other (rs = −.04 and .001, respectively, ps > .50). Further, controlling for number of years worked with refugees in these regression analyses did not alter our conclusions concerning the predictive utility of BJW-self and BJW-others for subjective well-being and attitudes towards refugees.

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Title: Beliefs in a Just World, Subjective Well-Being and Attitudes Towards Refugees Among Refugee Workers
Authors: Maya L. K. Khera
Annelie J. Harvey
Mitchell J. Callan
Publication date: 01-12-2014
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Social Justice Research / Issue 4/2014
Print ISSN: 0885-7466
Electronic ISSN: 1573-6725
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-014-0220-8

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