Characteristics, Influencing Factors And Internal Mechanisms Of Adolescents' Belief In A Just Worl

Belief in a just world(BJW)refers that individuals believe they live in a just world and all of the people could get what they deserve.Previous studies have obtained abundant findings regarding the adaptive functions of the BJW and have proven that this belief could improve individuals’ mental health,promote them to pursuit long term goals and engage in socially regulated behaviors.Over the years,though some studies have preliminary explored the characteristics and influencing factors of the BJW under the Chinese background,there are still several questions should be further addressed.Firstly,previous studies on Chinese adolescents have not described the characteristics of the BJW in detail within a wide sampling range.Secondly,previous studies have not made a clear distinction between general belief in a just world(GBJW)and personal belief in a just world(PBJW).Whether there are differences in the characteristics,influencing factors and mechanisms between GBJW and PBJW have not been discussed.Thirdly,previous studies have not focused on the influence of the personal characteristics on adolescents’ BJW.The influence of individuals’ cognitive(theory of mind)and affective(empathy)factors on adolescents’ BJW remains to be revealed.Lastly,bioecological model asserts that adolescents’ development may be influenced by the proximal processes,contextual factors and personal characteristics synergistically.Previous studies have not explored how the proximal processes,contextual factors and personal characteristics in family microsystem interact with each other and ultimately influence adolescents’ BJW.4009 adolescents ranging from junior grade one to senior grade two participated in this study.Based on the bioecological model,the current research systematically explored the characteristics,influencing factors and mechanisms of adolescents’ BJW.This study investigated following issues,firstly,what were the different characteristics of the GBJW and PBJW of Chinese adolescents.Secondly,how personal cognitive factor(theory of mind)and affective factor(empathy)interacted to affect adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW.Thirdly,whether proximal processes(parental styles)were the main mechanisms between contextual factor(parental marital conflict)and adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW.Lastly,how proximal process and personal characteristics jointly influenced adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW.Specifically,whether the negative parenting behavior childhood maltreatment influenced adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW through personal characteristics such as parent-child attachment and perceived social support.In addition,whether the personal temperamental factor sensory process sensitivity would moderate the relationship between proximal process childhood maltreatment and adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW.The main findings of the current study are as follows:(1)The level of GBJW was higher than PBJW among Chinese adolescents.This feature was consistent no matter the adolescents were females or males,from rural or urban areas or from single-parent families or two-parent families.Specific to the grades,the GBJW was significantly higher than PBJW during junior high school period,the GBJW and PBJW would reach similar level during senior high school period.In addition,the level of GBJW would show a decline in the second grade of junior high school.However,the level of PBJW had no significant change during the middle school period.In addition,the GBJW and PBJW of adolescents from rural areas or from single-parent families were more likely to be lower than the adolescents from urban areas or two-parent families at different points during their development process.(2)Adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW were influenced by both theory of mind(cognitive factor)and empathy(affective factor).Theory of mind and empathic concern(the positive side of empathy)only had significant interactive effect on PBJW.Higher empathic concern was related with higher PBJW for adolescents with both high and low theory of mind.Empathic concern was related with PBJW stronger for adolescents with high theory of mind.In addition,theory of mind and personal distress(the negative side of empathy)had significant interactive effect on GBJW and PBJW.The interactive effect of theory of mind and personal distress had the same pattern on GBJW and PBJW.Higher personal distress was related with lower GBJW and PBJW for adolescents with both high and low theory of mind.Personal distress was related with GBJW and PBJW stronger for adolescents with high theory of mind.(3)The contextual factor parental marital conflict had negative effects on both adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW directly,and the effect on GBJW was stronger.The mechanisms between parental marital conflict and GBJW or PBJW were different.Personal characteristic mother-child attachment could mediate both the relationship between parental marital conflict and GBJW and PBJW.However,father-child attachment could only mediate the relationship between parental marital conflict and GBJW.More importantly,this study confirmed that proximal process indeed the important mechanism between contextual factor and adolescents’ development.The contextual factor parental marital conflict influenced mother-child attachment through proximal processes maternal parenting styles(overprotection,rejection,warmth),and ultimately affected both adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW.Compared with the sequentially mediation effects between parental marital conflict and GBJW,the sequentially mediation effects of maternal parenting styles and mother-child attachment were stronger between marital conflict and PBJW.Similarly,contextual factor parental marital conflict influenced father-child attachment through proximal processes paternal parenting styles(rejection,warmth),and ultimately affected adolescents’ GBJW.Compared with paternal parenting styles,maternal parenting styles had stronger effects between parental marital conflict and GBJW and PBJW.(4)The mechanisms between proximal process childhood maltreatment and adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW were different.Mother-child attachment mediated the relationships between childhood maltreatment and GBJW and PBJW simultaneously.While father-child attachment only mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment and GBJW.In addition,perceived social support mediated the relationships between childhood maltreatment and GBJW and PBJW.Though childhood maltreatment could not influence adolescents’ PBJW through father-child attachment,childhood maltreatment could influence both adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW through the sequentially mediation effects of mother-child attachment/father-child attachment and perceived social support.(5)Individuals’ temperamental trait sensory processing sensitivity moderated the relationships between proximal process childhood maltreatment and adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW.Higher childhood maltreatment was related with lower GBJW or PBJW for adolescents with both high and low sensory processing sensitivity.However,childhood maltreatment negatively related with GBJW and PBJW stronger for adolescents with high sensory processing sensitivity.Meanwhile,the interactions of childhood maltreatment and sensory processing sensitivity to predict GBJW and PBJW were both in line with the vantage sensitivity model.Taken together,this research systematically explored the features,influencing factors and internal mechanisms of Chinese adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW.This study presented the features of GBJW and PBJW from various perspectives and revealed the different mechanisms of the factors in the family microsystem on adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW.All these studies distinguished GBJW and PBJW clearly and provided empirical evidences that GBJW and PBJW were two separate constructs.In addition,this study was the first to explore the effects of personal characteristics on adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW,the results found that both GBJW and PBJW were influenced by the cognitive factor and the affective factor simultaneously.Most importantly,this study systematically explored the synergistically effects and complex mechanisms of contextual factors,proximal processes and personal characteristics in family microsystem on adolescents’ GBJW and PBJW.This study confirmed the important roles of proximal processes to adolescents’ development and provided empirical evidences for the bioecological model.This study provided abundant information for educators to fully understand the features of adolescents’ BJW,and provided guidance for educators to take corresponding measures to improve adolescents’ BJW.