In a cross-sectional questionnaire study with N = 1045 German students between 13 and 18 years old (M = 14.1, SD = 0.6), we investigated the relation between students' cyber-bullying perpetration and victimization and their personal belief in a just world (BJW). We considered students' individual experience of teacher and classmate justice as…

In a cross-sectional questionnaire study with N = 1658 German students, aged between 12 and 17 years (M = 14.1, SD = 0.5), we investigated the relation of students' personal belief in a just world (BJW) to their school absenteeism and functions of school refusal behavior. In accordance with recent studies which identified negative relations…

To explain feelings of social exclusion, sociological factors, such as occupation, income and education, come to mind. Feelings of social exclusion, however, may be the result of psychological processes and in particular of (in)justice experiences. Based on just-world research, we hypothesized that (1) the more young people feel treated justly by…

The study examined the meaning of personal belief in a just world and students' experience of their teachers' behavior toward them personally for school distress in different class contexts. The study involved 827 secondary school students from 61 classes (grades 9 to 11). Analyses revealed that the more the students believed in a…

The more people believe in a just world (BJW) in which they get what they deserve, the more they are motivated to preserve a just world by ones' just behavior. Consequently, we expected school students with a strong BJW to show less deviant behavior as cheating or delinquency. The mediating role of teacher justice was also examined. Questionnaire…

The meaning of belief in a just world and students' subjective experience of the justice of their teachers' behavior toward them personally for academic achievement was examined. Sample 1 involved 947 secondary school students from 67 classes (grade levels 9 to 11), and Sample 2 718 students from 48 classes (grade level 9). Multilevel analyses…

Assessing students' aptitude and educational performance and grading them on a hierarchical scale is a universal feature of the schooling process. In light of grades' instrumental, motivational, and symbolic saliency in students' school experience, it is not surprising they are highly "valued goods," and the process of their fair or…

This article investigates the relationship between the personal belief in a just world (BJW) and domain-specific beliefs about justice and examines how justice cognitions impact on adolescents' development, particularly on their achievement at school and their subjective well-being. A longitudinal questionnaire study with German adolescents aged…

This article investigates justice judgments concerning grading. In two studies with secondary students (N[subscript 1]=350 academic-track students; N[subscript 2]=225 intermediate [n=81] and academic-track students [n=144]) attending the 7th to the 12th grade level, participants were presented with vignettes describing three different grading…

This article investigates the meaning of the belief in a just world (BJW) for justice cognition at school and for subjective well-being. We hypothesized that BJW should serve as a resource helping to maintain positive well-being and to assimilate experienced injustice. The results of two studies with Portuguese school students (7th-12th grade) and…