System Justification

System Justification

System justification theory (SJT) is a scientific theory within social psychology that proposes people have a motivation to defend and justify the status quo, even when it may be disadvantageous to certain people. People have a psychological need to maintain stability and order in their lives. As such, they are motivated to see the status quo (or prevailing social, economic, and political norms) as good, legitimate, and desirable.

According to system justification theory, people not only want to hold favorable attitudes about themselves (ego-justification) and their own groups (group-justification), but they also want to hold favorable attitudes about the overarching social order (system-justification). In certain instances, system-justification motives override the other two motives, and result in outgroup favoritism and acceptance of inferiority among groups low in status (i.e. groups low on the social, political, and economic hierarchies). Consequences of this theory is that existing social, economic, and political arrangements tend to be preferred, alternatives to the status quo are disparaged, and inequality may be indirectly perpetuated.