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Psychology and Law
2025. Vol. 15, no. 3, 224–239
doi:10.17759/psylaw.2025150315
ISSN: 2222-5196 (online)

Does belief in a just world contribute to reducing corruption: the mediating effect of perceived punishment and the role of psychological entitlement?

 
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Abstract

Context and relevance. In the context of the persistent spread of corrupt practices, which pose a threat both to the functioning of state institutions and to public trust, there is an increasing need to analyze not only institutional, legal, and economic, but also psychological factors that contribute to their reproduction. In recent years, growing attention in research practice has been devoted to promising concepts and cognitive frames such as belief in a just world and a sense of psychological superiority, which are capable of explaining individual differences in the moral acceptability of corrupt behavior and the willingness to engage in it. Objective of the study. The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between belief in a just world and the propensity for corrupt behavior, taking into account the mediating role of perceived punishment and the moderating role of psychological superiority. Methods and materials. The online study covered 732 people (54% women, 46% men). The toolkit included a scale of psychological entitlement, a questionnaire of perceived propensity to corruption, a questionnaire of perceived punishment, a scale of faith in a just world, a scale of social desirability and a demographic reference. The results obtained made it possible to build a statistically sound moderation and mediation model in which perceived punishment acted as a mediator, and psychological entitlement as a moderator of corrupt intentions. A negative relationship with the tendency to corruption through the intermediary effect of perceived punishment was found only with faith in the justice of the world in relation to oneself, but not in a just world in general. Conclusions. Psychological entitlement as a moderator reduces the strength of the positive relationship between faith in a just world and perceived punishment.

General Information

Keywords: psychological entitlement, belief in a just world, perceived punishment, corrupt intentions, psychology of corruption, anti-corruption

Journal rubric: Interdisciplinary Studies

Article type: scientific article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/psylaw.2025150315

Funding. The study was supported by the Russian Academy of Sciences grant No. 25-28-01362 https://rscf.ru/project/25-28-01362/

Received 27.01.2025

Revised 27.04.2025

Accepted

Published

For citation: Maksimenko, A.A., Zagladina, A.R., Deyneka, O.S. (2025). Does belief in a just world contribute to reducing corruption: the mediating effect of perceived punishment and the role of psychological entitlement?. Psychology and Law, 15(3), 224–239. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17759/psylaw.2025150315

© Maksimenko A.A., Zagladina A.R., Deyneka O.S., 2025

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

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Information About the Authors

Aleksandr A. Maksimenko, Doctor of Sociology, Candidate of Science (Psychology), Docent, Chief Researcher of the Laboratory for Anti-Corruption Policy, HSE University, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0891-4950, e-mail: maximenkoal@gmail.com

Alexandra R. Zagladina, Research Assistant of the Laboratory for Anti-Corruption Policy, HSE University, Moscow, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0929-5753, e-mail: alzgldn@yandex.ru

Olga S. Deyneka, Doctor of Psychology, Professor, Head of the Department of Political Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Saint-Petersburg State University, St.Petersburg, Russian Federation, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8224-2190, e-mail: osdeyneka@yandex.ru

Contribution of the authors

Aleksander A. Maksimenko — study concept, research design, and drafting the manuscript, handling correspondence with the editorial office (corresponding author).

Alexandra R. Zagladina — literature review, selection and adaptation of research methods, questionnaire translation and adaptation, and data analysis.

Olga S. Deyneka — study conceptualization, drafting and revising the manuscript, discussion of results, final editing, and overall expert guidance of the project.

All authors participated in the discussion of the results and approved the final text of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Ethics statement

The article doesn’t contain any materials to be considered by an Ethical committee.

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