RESEARCH INTERESTS

Social Psychology
- just world hypothesis
- distributive and procedural justice
- relative deprivation
- social action
- scope of justice

My primary research area is the social psychology of justice. I am particularly interested in the concept of the "belief in a just world" (i.e., the belief that people get what they deserve). Previous research has examined the implications of this belief for observers' reactions to innocent victims. I have expanded on this work in several ways. First, I have investigated how the belief in a just world affects perceptions of and responses to one's own misfortune rather than the misfortune of others. I have also investigated the function that this belief might play in daily life. Finally, I have tried to show evidence that it is specifically the injustice of innocent suffering that leads to defensive responses to innocent victims (and not, for example, simply the presence of negative outcomes). I am continuing to conduct research on these and related issues.

I have also done some work recently on the notion of "scope of justice", or the boundary within which justice is seen as applicable. For example, my colleagues and I are attempting to apply new methodologies to answer the question, When and for what target groups is justice a relevant consideration in social interaction? Finally, I am interested in the predictors of social action as well as the reasons for inaction in the face of injustice.

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:

Gaucher, D., Hafer, C. L., Kay, A. C., & Davidenko, N. (2010). Compensatory rationalizations and the resolution of everyday undeserved outcomes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 36, 109-118.

Hafer, C. L., & Gosse, L. (2010). Preserving the belief in a just world: When and for whom are different strategies preferred?. In D. R. Bobocel, A. C. Kay, M. P. Zanna, & J. M. Olson (Eds.), The psychology of justice and legitimacy: The Ontario symposium (Vol. 11, pp. 79-102). New York: Psychology Press.

Olson, J. M., Hafer, C. L., Cheung, I., & Conway, P. (2010). Deservingness, the scope of justice, and actions toward others. In D. R. Bobocel, A. C. Kay, M. P. Zanna, & J. M. Olson (Eds.), The psychology of justice and legitimacy: The Ontario symposium (Vol. 11, pp. 125-149). New York: Psychology Press.

Hafer, C.L., & Choma, B.L. (2009). Belief in a just world, perceived fairness, and justification of the status quo. In J. Jost, A.C. Kay, & H. Thorisdottir (Eds.), Social and psychological bases of ideology and system justification (pp. 107-125). New York: Oxford University Press.

Bogaert, A.F., & Hafer, C.L. (2009). Predicting the timing of coming out in gay and bisexual men from world beliefs, physical attractiveness, and childhood gender identity/role. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39, 1991-2019.

Hafer, C. L., Olson, J. M., & Peterson, A. A. (2008). Extreme harmdoing: A view from the social psychology of justice. In V. M. Esses & R. A. Vernon (Eds.). Explaining the breakdown of ethnic relations: Why neighbors kill (pp. 17-40).  Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Hafer, C. L., Bègue, L., Choma, B. L., & Dempsey, J. L. (2005). Belief in a just world and commitment to long-term deserved outcomes. Social Justice Research, 18, 429-444.

Hafer, C. L., & Bègue, L. (2005). Experimental research on just-world theory: Problems, developments, and future challenges. Psychological Bulletin, 131, 128-167.

Hafer, C. L., & Olson, J. M. (2003). An analysis of empirical research on the scope of justice.  Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7, 311-323.