Classroom Environment And The Belief In A Just World

BackgroundThe transition from primary school to junior high school is a significant change in students’ life.The transition process may lead to various adaptation problems,such as interpersonal adaptation and academic pressure.How to help students cope with the challenges in the transition stage is an important research topic in the field of psychology.The belief in a just world is an important personal psychological resource,which plays an important role in promoting good adaptation and is closely related to the mental health and well-being of students.ObjectiveExpanded the original concept of the class environment,incorporated class procedural justice and teacher justice into the concept of the class environment,investigated the relationship between the class environment and the development of belief in a just world,in order to clarify the theoretical dispute between the two.Strengthen the understanding of the school’s internal justice environment,and promote the school adaptation of primary and junior high school students,so as to improve students’ mental health.Subject and methodsIn this study,592 grade 6 students in Tianjin by cluster sampling were followed up for one year.The survey contents included demographic data,classroom environment scale(There are five dimensions:teacher-student relationship,classmate relationship,order and discipline,competitive atmosphere and academic burden),class procedural justice scale,teacher justice scale and belief in a just world scale(There are two dimensions:general belief in a just world and personal belief in a just world).Results(1)From the repeated measures ANOVA,we found that there was a significant interaction between test time and belief in a just world,F(l,440)=8.119,p<0.05.The test time and the belief in a just world are tested separately by the repeated measures ANOVA.The results showed that there was no significant difference between the general belief in a just world in the first measurement and the personal belief in a just world in the first measurement,F(1,510)=0.622,ns,and the general belief in a just world in the second measurement was significantly lower than the personal belief in a just world in the second measurement,F(1,440)=11.037,p<0.05.The results showed that the general belief in a just world in the first measurement was significantly higher than that measured in the second time,F(1,440)=4.889,p<0.05;there was no significant difference in the personal belief in a just world between the two measurements,F(1,440)=0.440,ns.(2)From the repeated measures ANOVA,we found that age group has a main effect on general belief in a just world,F(2,447)=6.146,p<0.05.Multiple comparisons found that the general belief in a just world of students older than 11 years old(by age in sixth grade,the same below)are significantly lower than those of students 11 years and younger,but the general belief in a just world of 11-year-old students has no significant difference from the general belief in a just world of students younger than 11 years old.Age has a main effect on personal belief in a just world,F(2,447)=6.072,p<0.05.Multiple comparisons found that the personal belief in a just world of students older than 11 years old(by age in sixth grade,the same below)are significantly lower than those of students 11 years old and younger,but the personal belief in a just world of 11-year-old students has no significant difference in personal belief in a just world from students younger than 11 years old.(3)From the auto-regression cross-lag model,it was found that classmate relationship in the first measurement could positively predict general belief in a just world in the second measurement(β=0.220,p<0.05)and personal belief in a just world in the second measurement(β=0.171,p<0.05).(4)The results of the auto-regression cross-lag model showed that the personal belief in a just world in the first measurement could positively predict the teacher-student relationship in the second measurement(β=0.111,p<0.05),the classmate relationship in the second measurement(β=0.122,p<0.05),order and discipline in the second measurement(β=0.181,p<0.05),the competitive atmosphere in the second measurement(β=0.160,p<0.05),class procedural justice in the second measurement(β=0.158,p<0.05),and negatively predict academic pressure in the second measurement(β=-0.142,p<0.05).Conclusions(1)This study found that during the period of grade 6-7,students’ general belief in a just world decreased,while their personal belief in a just world did not change.(2)11 years old is a critical period for the development of an individual’s belief in a just world.The development of cognitive abilities enables individuals to acquire the ability to test the reality of the belief in a just world.(3)Even if the class members change,a good classmate relationship is still conducive to the development of general belief in a just world and personal belief in a just world.(4)The personal belief in a just world has a positive impact on the perception of teacher-student relationship,classmate relationship,order and discipline,competitive atmosphere and class procedural justice,and can reduce the perception of academic burden.(5)The personal belief in a just world can extend the past good classmate relations to the current classmate relations.A good interpersonal model interacts with personal belief in a just world to form a virtuous circle.