How Belief in a Just World Benefits Mental Health: The Effects of Optimism and Gratitude

Feng Jiang (), Xiaodong Yue (), Su Lu (), Guangtao Yu () and Fei Zhu ()

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2016, vol. 126, issue 1, 423 pages

Abstract: Past research suggests that individuals’ belief in a just world (BJW) is closely connected with their mental health. To clarify the underlying mechanism, the current study proposes that BJW encourages optimism and gratitude which then mediates the relationship between BJW and mental health as indicated by subjective well-being (SWB) and depression. A sample of 1,200 undergraduates yields results indicating that (a) BJW influences optimism, gratitude, SWB, and depression after controlling for gender, age, income, and personality; (b) optimism and gratitude mediate BJW effects by increasing SWB and decreasing depression. The issues of BJW’s adaptive functions are discussed. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

Keywords: Belief in a just world; Gratitude; Optimism; Subjective well-being; Depression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:soinre:v:126:y:2016:i:1:p:411-423

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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-015-0877-x

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