Zhou Jianhua, Li Tubei, Li Shifeng, Yang Penghui, Gong Xue
School of Psychology, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, China.
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Lanzhou University of Technology, Lanzhou, China.
J Youth Adolesc. 2025 Sep 17. doi: 10.1007/s10964-025-02259-9.
Belief in a just world has been widely regarded as a psychological factor that supports adolescent adjustment. However, prior research has primarily relied on cross-sectional designs and has seldom explored longitudinal temporal relations, particularly how emotional and behavioral difficulties might influence, and be influenced by, belief in a just world. This four-wave longitudinal study investigated the bidirectional associations between both personal and general belief in a just world and internalizing and externalizing problems among Chinese secondary vocational school students, a group facing unique academic and social risks. Participants included 3312 secondary vocational school students (41.5 percent female; average age at baseline = 15.71 years, standard deviation = 0.86), with data collected across four waves at six-month intervals. Random intercept cross-lagged panel models revealed robust reciprocal associations between personal belief in a just world and internalizing or externalizing problems. While general belief in a just world did not significantly predict internalizing problems, internalizing problems significantly predicted a decline in general belief in a just world. Externalizing problems significantly predicted subsequent declines in general belief in a just world. General belief in a just world predicted lower externalizing problems only from Time 3 to Time 4, suggesting a possible age-related effect. These findings underscore the developmental significance of belief in a just world as both a protective factor and a belief system that can be shaped by adolescents' emotional and behavioral functioning in educational contexts marked by disadvantage.
相信世界是公正的，这一信念一直被广泛视为支持青少年适应的心理因素。然而，先前的研究主要依赖横断面设计，很少探讨纵向的时间关系，特别是情绪和行为问题如何影响对公正世界的信念，以及如何受到该信念的影响。这项四波纵向研究调查了中国中等职业学校学生中，个人和一般意义上对公正世界的信念与内化问题和外化问题之间的双向关联，这类学生面临着独特的学业和社会风险。研究参与者包括3312名中等职业学校学生（41.5%为女生；基线平均年龄 = 15.71岁，标准差 = 0.86），数据在四个时间点收集，间隔为六个月。随机截距交叉滞后面板模型揭示了个人对公正世界的信念与内化或外化问题之间存在强烈的相互关联。虽然一般意义上对公正世界的信念并不能显著预测内化问题，但内化问题却能显著预测一般意义上对公正世界信念的下降。外化问题显著预测了随后一般意义上对公正世界信念的下降。只有从时间点3到时间点4，一般意义上对公正世界的信念才预测了较低的外化问题，这表明可能存在与年龄相关的效应。这些发现强调了对公正世界的信念在发展过程中的重要性，它既是一种保护因素，也是一种信念体系，在以劣势为特征的教育环境中，可能会受到青少年情绪和行为功能的塑造。
