Examining the relationship between belief in a just world, political ideology, religious ideology, socioeconomic status of origin, race and social justice advocacy attitudes of practicing school counselors

The purpose of this study was to examine how belief in a just world, political ideology, religious ideology, socioeconomic status of origin, and race related to social justice advocacy attitudes among school counseling professionals. A total of 298 participants from the American School Counselor Association were included in this survey research study.;Participants completed an on-line survey, which included the Social Justice Advocacy Scale, the Global Belief in a Just World Scale, and a demographic questionnaire.;A 3-step hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to analyze the data. The analysis indicated that political ideology and belief in a just world were statistically significant variables. The standardized regression coefficients indicated that political ideology had the strongest relationship with social justice advocacy attitudes among practicing school counselors and accounted for 11% of the variability. The belief in a just world variable accounted for an additional 4% of the variability in the model.;The findings suggest that: (1) personal belief systems and values of school counselors do influence social justice advocacy practice, (2) school counselor trainees and school counselors currently in practice should continuously examine their personal belief systems in order to engage in advocacy work on behalf of their students, and (3) continued research should concentrate on expanding the empirical literature base in order to better prepare school counselors to serve and meet the needs of their diverse students and families.