The Just World Hypothesis holds that people get what they deserve.
Because bad things aren’t purely random. The person on the motorcycle with the helmet, versus the person on the motorcycle without, are not courting tragedy equally; one of them is doing a little bit to “earn” their tragedy.
Likewise, Tit-for-Tat means evil people tend to be the recipients of evil in turn.
I think the “Just World Hypothesis”, as typically described, is largely incorrect in its use of the concept of deserving, versus the concept of having some responsibility for—but I also think most people who follow a variant of the JWH use the non-moralizing “responsibility” version, and it is largely (but not exclusively) those who oppose the Just World Hypothesis who insert moralizing, to make it seem more reprehensible. Regardless of whether they wear a helmet or not, motorcyclists don’t deserve to get hit; rather, whether or not they wear a helmet determines part of their responsibility for what happens when they do.
Those who believe in the Just World Hypothesis tend to analyze their behavior after something bad happens to them, and hold something they’ve done partially responsible, and try to correct their behavior in the future—and do the same thing to other people who have something bad happen to them. Those who oppose the hypothesis sometimes refer to this tendency as “victim blaming”.
Personally, I call it “willingness to accept and learn from mistakes”. But then, I tend to upset the sorts of people who use phrases like “victim blaming”.
ETA: Retracted, because I failed to actually answer the question, and Salemicus did.
The Just World Hypothesis holds that people get what they deserve.
Because bad things aren’t purely random. The person on the motorcycle with the helmet, versus the person on the motorcycle without, are not courting tragedy equally; one of them is doing a little bit to “earn” their tragedy.
Likewise, Tit-for-Tat means evil people tend to be the recipients of evil in turn.
I think the “Just World Hypothesis”, as typically described, is largely incorrect in its use of the concept of deserving, versus the concept of having some responsibility for—but I also think most people who follow a variant of the JWH use the non-moralizing “responsibility” version, and it is largely (but not exclusively) those who oppose the Just World Hypothesis who insert moralizing, to make it seem more reprehensible. Regardless of whether they wear a helmet or not, motorcyclists don’t deserve to get hit; rather, whether or not they wear a helmet determines part of their responsibility for what happens when they do.
Those who believe in the Just World Hypothesis tend to analyze their behavior after something bad happens to them, and hold something they’ve done partially responsible, and try to correct their behavior in the future—and do the same thing to other people who have something bad happen to them. Those who oppose the hypothesis sometimes refer to this tendency as “victim blaming”.
Personally, I call it “willingness to accept and learn from mistakes”. But then, I tend to upset the sorts of people who use phrases like “victim blaming”.
ETA: Retracted, because I failed to actually answer the question, and Salemicus did.