The Relationship between Belief in a Just and an Unjust World and Aggression

the Rubin and Peplau’s (1975) Belief in a Just World Scale (BJWS), and Buss & Perry’s (1992) Aggre- ssion Questionnaire were used to estimate the correlations between dimensions of aggression (anger and hostility) and belief in a just and an unjust world. Using multistage ran- dom method of sampling, 430 persons above age 16 in the city of Esfehan were selected as participants and comple- ted the questionnaires. Analysis of data showed that anger and hostility were negatively correlated with belief in a just world (r=-0.17, and -0.12, P<0.01) and with belief in an unjust world (r = -0.10 and -0.16, P<0.01) respectively. Partial correlations, controlling for anger and hostility, in- dicated that belief in a just world has a significant nega- tive relationship with anger (r=-0.12, P<0.01). Belief in an unjust world also was negatively correlated with hostili- ty (r=-0.13, P<0.01). Analysis of regression demonstarted that belief in a just and an unjust world can predict anger, and belief in an unjust and just world can predict hostility (p<0.01).