Just World Theory

 The persistence of belief in a Just World is a cognitive bias that people maintain that asserts that kindness and morally correct actions are rewarded and immoral or corrupt actions are punished. The English language is rife with axioms to this effect:

• You reap what you sow.
• What goes around, comes around.
• You got your just desserts.

The Social Psychologist Melvin Learner is the most commonly associated researcher in relation to this topic. He saw his work as an expansion on Stanley Milgram's work with obedience. During his studies, he theorized the belief in a just world where actions have understandable expected consequences. He further asserted that this belief was essential in the maintenance of their self-worth.

When confronted with numerous examples of pain and suffering and hunger and war, people need to believe that there is a reason for what happens. If there is no reason, then they are as likely to suffer as anyone else.

By maintaining their belief in a just world, they can convince themselves that they aren't as likely to be affected by the vagaries of chance. The downside to this theory is that it tends to encourage victim blaming as it necessitates having a reason for whatever negative event or outcome occurs. In the following clip from The Dark Knight, the civilians on board the ferry are following the Just World Theory.

 

When the woman on the civilian ferry states that "Those men had their chance," she seems to imply that they deserve to be killed because they're already criminals and that their death is a result of their bad choices rather than the result of a conscious choice by someone on the civilian ferry. If the decision is made to detonate the bomb and kill the prisoners, the just world theory allows the button pusher to distance them self from their action, removing the vulnerability of their position by making a choice.