Cross-cultural generalisability of the belief in a just world: Factor analytic and psychometric evidence from six countries

The belief in a just world (BJW) is theorised to be a universal personality disposition. In this study we contrast this notion with that of Justice Capital, which suggests that BJW varies based on the individual’s justice experience. We achieve this comparison via a psychometric analysis of the BJW scales across cultural and demographic groups. Invariance; equivalence of reliability metrics; differences in latent means; and consistency in construct validity—differential associations with perceived control, hopelessness, and optimism—were analysed across Germany, Russia, Australia, Brazil, Turkey, the USA, sex, age, income type, and economic status (n = 1250). Findings provide support for both the universality and malleability of BJW. We discuss how these findings advance BJW theorising and their important implications for BJW measurement.