What Is The System Justification Theory
Define system justification theory.
What is the system justification theory. According to system justification theory people are motivated to varying degrees depending upon situational and dispositional factors to defend bolster and justify prevailing social economic and political arrangements i e the status quo. It proposes that people have several underlying needs which vary from individual to individual that can be satisfied by the defense and justification of the status quo even when the system may be disadvantageous to certain people. System justification definition system justification refers to a social psychological propensity to defend and bolster the status quo that is to see it as good fair legitimate and desirable. When we see society as unfair we feel we can do nothing about this we experience a sense of dissonance.
Banaji in 1994 to explain how and why people tolerate unjust and exploitative social arrangements rather than doing everything they can to change the status quo and thereby create a better more just system. System justification theory theory that people s dependence on social systems for wealth and security motivates them to justify those social systems and see them as fair. I am not suggesting that people always perceive the status quo as legitimate and stable. System justification theory is an attempt to describe and explain the social and psychological processes by which existing social arrangements are legitimized even at the expense of personal and.
The theory of justification is a part of epistemology that attempts to understand the justification of propositions and beliefs epistemologists are concerned with various epistemic features of belief which include the ideas of justification warrant rationality and probability loosely speaking justification is the reason that someone properly holds a belief. Systematic processing processing of a persuasive message that occurs when people pay careful attention to a message. System justification theory sjt is a theory within social psychology that system justifying beliefs serve a psychologically palliative function. System justification theory was initially proposed by john t.
System justification motivation is theorized to manifest itself in a number of different ways e g in terms of stereotyping ideology. The need for such an explanation arises from historical observations revealing numerous instances of people not merely passively acceptingbut sometimes even actively justifying and rationalizing social. Jost and mahzarin r. A consequence of this tendency is that existing social economic and political arrangements tend to be preferred and alternatives to the status quo are disparaged.