Cyber-bullying among university students: Concurrent relations to belief in a just world and to empathy.

The aim of this study was to investigate concurrent relations of belief in a just world (BJW), justice experiences, and empathy to cyber-bullying perpetration and victimization. Our theoretical framework contained a distinction between personal and general BJW and between affective and cognitive empathy. Due to theory and recent research, we expected students' BJW, lecturer and fellow student justice, and empathy to relate negatively to cyber-bullying perpetration. Furthermore, BJW and academic justice experiences are also expected to negatively relate to cyber-bullying victimization. In order to test our hypotheses, we conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire study with N = 663 German university students (Mage = 22.6, SDage = 3.5; 68% female). Gender, internet use, and social desirability were considered as control variables. A structural equation model showed that students' personal BJW, academic justice experiences, and both empathy dimensions but not general BJW negatively related to cyber-bullying perpetration. Additionally, students' personal BJW and academic justice experiences but not general BJW or empathy were associated with cyber-bullying victimization. Male students and those with a low social desirability were more likely to report cyber-bullying perpetration and victimization. Altogether, not only university students' personal BJW and empathy but also their academic justice experiences related to cyber-bullying perpetration or victimization. Thus, researchers should develop strategies aiming to prevent or reduce cyber-bullying. Those should simultaneously foster students' personal BJW and empathy as well as an academic environment characterized by just behavior of lecturers and students. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03239-z.

Belief in a just world, perceived control, perceived risk, and hopelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from a globally diverse sample.

The purpose of this study was to understand the complex relationships between belief in a just world (BJW), perceived control, perceived risk to self and others, and hopelessness among a globally diverse sample during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The just-world hypothesis suggests that people need to believe in a just world in which they get what they deserve and deserve what they get. Studies have shown that believing in a just world has an adaptive function for individuals. Samples from six countries completed an online questionnaire. A total of 1,250 people participated (934 female) and ages ranged from 16 to 84 years old (M = 36.3, SD = 15.5). The results showed that, when controlling for gender, age, country of residence, and being in a risk group for COVID-19 (e.g., smoker, old age, chronic disease etc.), a stronger personal and general BJW and higher perceived control over the COVID-19 pandemic predicted lower levels of hopelessness. How at-risk participants perceived themselves to be for COVID-19 positively predicted hopelessness, but how risky participants perceived the disease to be for others negatively predicted hopelessness. This study highlights how the distinction between self and others influences hopelessness and how BJW, especially personal BJW, can serve as a psychological resource during times of historic uncertainty. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03172-1.

Being a good or a just teacher: Which experiences of teachers' behavior can be more predictive of school bullying?

In two cross-sectional questionnaire studies with N = 2,931 German students, aged between 12 and 17 years (M = 14.1, SD = 0.5), we investigated the relation between students' bullying behavior and their personal belief in a just world (BJW). We considered students' personal experience of teacher justice as a possible mediator in this relation and investigated whether the students' experiences of their teachers' classroom management explained bullying behavior in addition to personal BJW and teacher justice, while statistically controlling for sex and school type. In both studies, multilevel modeling results showed that the more students endorsed personal BJW and the more they evaluated their teachers' behavior toward them personally as being just, the less likely they were to report that they bullied others. The students' personal experience of teacher justice mediated the association of personal BJW with bullying. Furthermore, the students' personal experience of classroom management significantly predicted bullying in addition to personal BJW and teacher justice. The observed relations were mainly significant at the individual level. The pattern of results persisted when we controlled for school type and when we considered student sex as a moderator. We discussed the adaptive functions of BJW and implications for future school research and practice.

Belief in a just world, teacher justice, and bullying behavior.

The relation between school students' belief in a just world (BJW) and their bullying behavior was investigated in a questionnaire study. The mediating role of teacher justice was also examined. Data were obtained from a total of N = 458 German and Indian high school students. Regression analyses revealed that the more strongly students believed in a personal just world and the more they evaluated their teachers' behavior toward them personally to be just, the less bullying behavior they reported. Moreover, students with a strong BJW tended to evaluate their teachers' behavior toward them personally to be more just, and the experience of teacher justice mediated the relation between BJW and less bullying perpetration. This pattern of results was as expected and consistent across different cultural contexts. It persisted when neuroticism, sex, and country were controlled. The adaptive functions of BJW and implications for future school research are discussed.

Subjective Well-Being From a Just-World Perspective: A Multi-Dimensional Approach in a Student Sample.

In a cross-sectional study with N = 627 individuals (M age = 22.8, SD age = 7.3, 147 males, 480 females, 106 non-religious, 456 religious), we investigated personal belief in a just world (BJW) as a resource for undergraduates' subjective well-being and expected a positive relation between both constructs due to recent studies. We not only aimed at replicating but also extending recent findings by investigating a Russian sample, measuring different dimensions of well-being, and considering self-esteem and resilience as potential mediators in the relation of BJW and well-being. We also controlled for confounding effects of age, gender, religiosity, and general BJW. The findings show that personal BJW related to all investigated indicators of well-being (depressive symptoms, positive and negative affect, and mental well-being). Self-esteem mediated all relations between personal BJW and indicators of subjective well-being whereas resilience mediated relations of personal BJW to positive affect and mental well-being. The pattern of results persisted when we controlled for age, gender, religiosity, and general BJW. Our results confirm that the personal BJW world functions as a psychological resource in undergraduate students.

Measuring attitudes towards interprofessional learning. Testing two German versions of the tool "Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale" on interprofessional students of health and nursing sciences and of human medicine.

Objective: In order to verify the methodological quality of two versions of a tool for measuring attitudes towards interprofessional learning, we adapted - in terms of translation and scale form - the Heidelberg Version [1] of Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale - RIPLS [2], a methodologically controversial tool that had been translated into German, and compared both the original and new versions. Method: Three items were reworded and the scale form altered (from five to four levels), leading to the Halle Version that was validated by means of a cognitive pretest (n=6). Both questionnaires were completed by students taking the interprofessional degree program in Health and Nursing Sciences (HNS) and by students of Human Medicine. The test quality of both tools was examined by analyzing the main components and reliability using the scales allocation of the items as according to Parsell and Bligh [2]. Results: The questionnaires were randomly assembled and distributed to 331 students. The response was n=320 (HNS n=109; Medicine n=211). The Halle Version "RIPLS-HAL" of the questionnaire was completed by n=166 and the Heidelberg Version "RIPLS-HDB" by n=154. In the main component analysis the data could not depict the scale patterns of the original Australian tool. The reliability values of both the Heidelberg and Halle versions were only satisfactory for the "Teamwork and Collaboration" and "Professional Identity" scales. Conclusions: The German version of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale has only limited suitability for recording the attitude towards interprofessional learning. The present versions can be regarded as an approach towards developing a more suitable tool.