Is It a Just World After All? Age Differences in the Belief in a Just World Across 57 Societies and the Influences of Cultural Values

Individuals' belief in a just world is related to a complexity of personal and social consequences. Understanding the development of justice belief can provide valuable information about its determinants and functions across the lifespan. The current study aims to investigate age-related differences in belief in a just world across adulthood and how the age differences are moderated by cultural values. Responses from 81,543 individuals across 57 societies were analysed. Individual-level information was obtained from the sixth wave of the World Values Survey, and society-level individualism and flexibility scores were obtained from Minkov and Kaasa's work on the two-dimensional model of cultural values. Hierarchical linear modelling was conducted to analyse the data and revealed a robust positive association between age and the belief in a just world. Moreover, society-level flexibility, but not individualism, strengthened the positive association between age and the belief in a just world. A positive main effect of flexibility on the belief in a just world was also found. The study revealed age-related differences in justice belief across societies. The findings suggest that the development of the belief in a just world is jointly influenced by individuals' personal motivational needs for justice and the cultural context.