Appropiation process of the belief in a just world: Ideology, social identity and conceptual construction

BARREIRO, ALICIA VIVIANA

Madrid, España

Otro; Understanding history and the constrution of identities in a global world: De-nationalizing history teaching?; 2010

Universidad Autónoma de Madrid

This research articulates the theoretical and methodological assumptions of social anddevelopmental psychology to analyze the role of ideological mediators in the development ofmoral identity, one important component of social identity. One of the main aims of this work isattempt to explain, whether persons passively reproduce social knowledge or if they carry out areconstructive process during the internalization of a particular ideology. This research focusesspecifically in the appropriation processes of the ideological Belief in a Just World (JWB)(Lerner & Simmons, 1965, Lerner, 2003) witch refers to in large people get what deserve. Study was carried out using a convenience sample of 216 students from Buenos Aires city, ages between 6 to 17 years‐old (18 cases for each age group) with different households educational level (primary, secondary, university). The instrument used was piagetian clinically Informed research Interviews (Piaget, 1926/1984; Delval, 2001), based in three narratives based on the JWB, similar to those made by Piaget (1932/1971). The results show that JWB is present along the cognitive development process, at least from 6 to 17 years, although not in all subjects. Besides, it’s possible to distinguish a conceptual reconstruction process in the appropriation of JWB: under the child animistic thought they believe in the existence of automatic sanctions implemented by objects or nature, when they leave this kind of thought, the other forms of responses emerge more frequently, in the form of social reciprocity or merit. It’s plausible considering that the JWBoperates as an ideological social restriction on the conceptualization process of individual destinations in the social world, while there would be a process of reconstruction of the social content depending on the type of thought prevalent in the individual, the JWB can be part of a network of social meanings that limit and enable what can be thought.