Ecological belief in a just world : A cross-validation study in a Turkish sample

Kurzfassung/Abstract

Examples of environmental injustice are widespread, and perceived injustice is an important predictor of environmental behaviour. However, the extent to which inequalities are perceived as just or unjust, as well as reactions towards the perception of injustice, vary among individuals. According to Lerner, individuals are motivated to believe in a just world in which people get what they deserve and deserve what they get. Ecological belief in a just world (EBJW) was developed as a construct that is in line with this general belief in a just world (BJW). This belief indicates that the world is basically an ecologically just place in which people get what they deserve as far as ecological resources and demands are concerned. The aim of the present study is to cross-validate EBJW in a Turkish sample. Another aim is to test the predictive power of EBJW on environmentally relevant commitments along with established other constructs. The sample consists of 245 participants (Nfemale= 160, Nmale= 83, Nmissing= 2) aged from 15 to 69 years (M = 34.23; SD = 10.28). Overall, the variable pattern and the complex motivation structure involved in pro-environmental as well as environmentally risky commitment can be confirmed in the Turkish sample. The results reveal that EBJW qualifies as a predictor of pro-environmental as well as environmentally risky behavioural commitment. This successful cross-validation underpins the need to further investigate EBJW as a powerful and important construct within the field of environmental psychology. In line with the cross-validation of BJW, further validation studies of EBJW should be conducted in other countries. Moreover, as EBJW is a rather new construct, the mediating and moderating variables in its relations with environmental behaviour are waiting to be explored. Finally, its relations with other prominent constructs in environmental psychology such as social dominance orientation, value orientations, personality traits, and authoritarianism should be examined.