Faith in a just world and ways to combine with stress and ambiguous situation

Abstract

Aim. The research undertaken by the author is aimed at explaining how people who
believe in the justice of the world deal with situations of ambiguity and related uncertainty.
It was also assumed that the manifested aversion to ambiguity in the subjects correlated
with the need for cognitive closure and that people who believe in a just world judge their
own effectiveness better, and that people used different strategies to reduce discomfort
(stress) related to uncertainty and ambiguity.
Methods. The method by which it was possible to answer the research problem posed
was a correlation analysis. Five questionnaires were used: the M. Kossowska cognitive closure
scale (2003), the E. F. Mcquarri and D. G. Mick ambiguity tolerance scale, the C. Dalbert
Just World scale (in-house translation), the COPE inventory and the GSES scale.
Results and conclusions. The analyses show that all three hypotheses put forward by
the author are confi rmed. Along with increasing tolerance of ambiguity, the preference for
order and predictability decreases. In turn, as faith in the just world increases, it increases
strongly (as a component of the need for cognitive closure). It has also been confi rmed that
people apply equal strategies for coping with stress in diffi cult situations to reduce discomfort.
Most people surveyed believe in world justice, the more often they use active coping,
planning, seeking instrumental support, avoiding competitive activities, turning to religion,
positive re-evaluation and development, refraining from action and acceptance as a coping
strategy, less often they reach for alcohol and other psychoactive substances. Finally, the
author presents the limitations of the research carried out and proposes directions for further
analysis to fi nally indicate the possibilities of applying the results in practice.