Beliefs in a Just World, Gender and Academic Achievement

Abstract

Purpose: Individuals who have higher levels ofbeliefs in a just world are purported to motivatethemselves better than others, thereby, have higherlevels of academic performance. However, previousresearch performed in this field conducted mainlywith Western participants and secondary level schoolstudents. The present study aims to investigate therelationship between beliefs in a just world (BJW) andacademic achievement. Also, this study examinedgender differences in the main variables and themoderating effect of the gender on the relationshipbetween beliefs in a just world and academicachievement with undergraduate students fromKyrgyzstan.Research Methods: A correlational research design was adopted for the current study. Aconvenience sample of 302 undergraduate students participated in this study. The participantscompleted a questionnaire, including demographics, grand point average (GPA), andmeasures of beliefs in a just world.Findings: Analyses revealed that personal BJW, general BJW, and a two-way interaction ofgender and general BJW predicted academic achievement. Additionally, the positiverelationship between general BJW and academic achievement was moderated by gender. Lowlevels of general BJW adversely impacted male students but did not affect female students. Inthis study, gender differences were also found in academic achievement, general and personalBJW.Implications for Research and Practice: Future research needs to replicate gender’smoderating role on the general beliefs in a just world and academic achievement since, to ourknowledge, it is a novel finding in the just world hypothesis and academic achievementresearch.