This article investigates the relationship between the personal belief in a just
world (BJW) and domain-specific beliefs about justice and examines how justice
cognitions impact on adolescents' development, particularly on their
achievement at school and their subjective well-being. A longitudinal questionnaire
study with German adolescents aged 14–19 years was conducted over a period
of five to eight months. The pattern of results revealed that evaluations of the
school climate and of the family climate as being just were two distinct phenomena,
both of which impacted on the personal BJW, which in turn affected the
domain-specific beliefs about justice. However, the domain-specific beliefs about
justice did not impact on each other directly. Moreover, an evaluation of the family
climate (but not of the school climate) as being just reduced depressive symptoms,
whereas depressive symptoms did not weaken the evaluation of one's family
as being just. The evaluation of the school climate as being just improved the
grades received in the next school report, whereas the grades received did not
affect the justice evaluation of the school climate. Finally, all relationships
persisted when controlling for age and gender. In sum, the pattern of findings
supports the notion that justice cognitions impact on development during adolescence.
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