Therapy Question: Do People Get what they Deserve?

Therapy Question: Do People Get what they Deserve?

Greetings Thriver’s – I’m Dr. Anthony Centore, here for Thriveworks, in Partnership with Theravive.

Psychologist Melvin Lerner has spent his career studying the concept of “Justice”. According to his research, we are pre-disposed to believe in a JUST world.

It works like this:

We want to believe that we live in a safe, stable, orderly world.

…One where bad things happened to bad people, and good things happen to good people.

Despite all reason, we yearn for this belief to be true.

Hence, when something unfortunate happens to someone else, our first assumption is often that they brought it on themselves, or are at least in part responsible.

You got into a car accident? You weren’t driving defensively.

Your accountant won’t call you back? You must be a bad client.

In fact, in a 1965 study, Dr. Lerner found that college students who were informed that another student won the lottery rationalized the student’s GOOD fortune by believing that the winner must have deserved it for some reason.

I mean, no one wants to believe that a wretch won the lottery.

 

Question of the day. …Do YOU believe that people get what they deserve?

 

Anthony Centore is CEO of Thriveworks, and director of Thrive Boston Counseling, 872 Massachusetts Ave, Suite 2-2, Cambridge, MA 02139. 617-395-5806.