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Why do some people feel life is so unfair? Understanding this may help explain conspiracy beliefs

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · · 824 words · By Daniel Jolley; Laura Blackie
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What to know about Why do some people feel life is so unfair? Understanding this may help explain conspiracy beliefs

The article discusses research published in the British Journal of Psychology regarding how adverse life experiences, such as illness or crime, can lead individuals to perceive the world as unfair. The authors argue that these perceptions of injustice can decrease trust in institutions and increase the psychological appeal of conspiracy theories as a means of making sense of hardship.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 9
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left17%
Center66%
Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Most people set out in life wanting to believe the world is fair.

Why it matters

They expect people to wait their turn in queues, to be treated equally in their job, and to be rewarded for hard work.

Common ground

These expectations influence how they understand the world around them, and shape their responses to it.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

The article discusses research published in the British Journal of Psychology regarding how adverse life experiences, such as illness or crime, can lead individuals to perceive the world as unfair. The authors argue that these perceptions of injustice can decrease trust in institutions and increase the psychological appeal of conspiracy theories as a means of making sense of hardship.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/why-do-some-people-feel-life-is-so-unfair-understand…

analyticsAnalysis

0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 5
check_circle Corroborated 3
help Insufficient Evidence 1
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Claim 1: “When these hardships are associated with stronger perceptions of injustice in the world, the same people more strongly endorse conspiracy beliefs.”
CORROBORATED
Two separate web search results confirm that perceptions of injustice resulting from hardships/violent crime are associated with a stronger endorsement of conspiracy beliefs.
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web search NEUTRAL — Stronger conspiracy theory beliefs predicted science mistrust and unwillingness to adhere to public health measures. Psychological state was a strong predictor of conspiracy beliefs.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/395120495_Dispellin…
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web search NEUTRAL — Those who had experienced violent crime reported stronger perceptions of injustice, which in turn were associated with stronger conspiracy beliefs, even after accounting for influential demographic fa…
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-life-hardships-conspiracy-theo…
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web search NEUTRAL — Those perceptions of injustice, in turn, were associated with stronger endorsement of conspiracy theories. The findings suggest that the critical factor may not be hardship itself, but the meaning peo…
https://scienmag.com/how-lifes-hardships-can-make-conspiracy…
info
Claim 2: “greater lifetime adversity was associated with lower trust in institutions through perceptions of injustice.”
SINGLE SOURCE
One web search result explicitly confirms that greater lifetime adversity was associated with lower trust in institutions through perceptions of injustice, but other results discuss injustice and trust in different contexts (workplace or democracy) rather than this specific causal chain.
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web search NEUTRAL — The present study examined perceptions of interpersonal injustice as a mediator of the relationship between observed incivility toward women at work and employees' occupational well-being. We also exa…
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.…
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web search NEUTRAL — Study 1 found that perceived injustice was linked to all action intentions, while trust was only negatively associated with nonnormative protest. Study 2 revealed that nonnormative protest was specifi…
https://research-portal.uu.nl/ws/files/247312670/J_Applied_S…
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web search NEUTRAL — Our final study found that greater lifetime adversity was associated with lower trust in institutions through perceptions of injustice. This is important because trust underpins many aspects of societ…
https://theconversation.com/why-do-some-people-feel-life-is-…
info
Claim 3: “We conducted three surveys involving more than 1,200 British participants with an equal gender split and average age of 39.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific methodology (three surveys, 1,200+ British participants, equal gender split, average age 39) is mentioned in one web search result that appears to be a summary or mirror of the original article, but is not corroborated by a second independent source.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in northwestern Europe, off the coast of the continental mainland. It compr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — British often refers to: People or things associated with the island of Great Britain British Isles, an island group Celtic Britons, an ancient ethno-linguistic group Brittonic languages, a branch of…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Britain most often refers to: Great Britain, an island in the North Atlantic Ocean The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a country in Northwestern Europe Britain may also refer to…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britain
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 4: “people who had experienced violent crime reported stronger perceptions of injustice.”
CORROBORATED
The claim is corroborated by both a cross-reference and a web search result, both stating that people who experienced violent crime reported stronger perceptions of injustice after accounting for demographic factors.
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web search NEUTRAL — After accounting for demographic factors, people who had experienced violent crime reported stronger perceptions of injustice. Our final study found that greater lifetime adversity was associated with…
https://theconversation.com/why-do-some-people-feel-life-is-…
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web search NEUTRAL — Compare crime rates by country and see the safest and most dangerous nations.The US crime rate is higher than most other developed nations, driven in part by higher rates of gun violence and property …
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/crime-rat…
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web search NEUTRAL — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) mission is to protect America from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety.Ever wonder who ICE…
https://www.ice.gov/?lv=true
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 5: “people who reported experiencing more lifetime adversity – including illness, bereavement, financial hardship and violence – were more likely to believe the world was unfair.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent web search results confirm that greater lifetime adversity (specifically mentioning crime victims and hardship survivors) is associated with stronger perceptions of injustice and the belief that the world is unfair.
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web search NEUTRAL — Greater lifetime adversity was associated with stronger perceptions of injustice, which were linked to higher endorsement of political conspiracy beliefs and, in turn, lower trust in institutions.
https://phys.org/news/2026-08-life-hardships-conspiracy-theo…
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web search NEUTRAL — Crime victims and hardship survivors report more conspiracy beliefs.To test this, the team used a checklist covering 35 types of adversity spanning a person’s life: serious accidents, bereavement, fin…
https://studyfinds.com/hardships-conspiracy-theories-appeali…
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web search NEUTRAL — Most extant literature on cumulative lifetime adversity focused on adversity experienced in childhood using the adverse childhood adversities (ACEs) scale (Felitti et al., 1998). This measure focused …
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9993236/
info
Claim 6: “Previous research has shown that people who feel uncertain, powerless or threatened are often more likely to endorse conspiracy theories.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of search results for 'People.com' and 'People Magazine', which are celebrity news sources and completely irrelevant to psychological research on conspiracy theories.
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web search NEUTRAL — Get the latest royals news and features from PEOPLE.com, including breaking news and style updates about Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and all the royal babies.
https://people.com/
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web search NEUTRAL — Get the latest celebrity news and features from PEOPLE.com, including exclusive interviews with stars and breaking news about everyone from the Kardashians to Brad Pitt.
https://people.com/celebrity/
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web search NEUTRAL — Take a break from your every day and explore the lives of some of the world’s most intriguing people with People magazine and get the inside scoop on your favourite stars, with in-depth interviews and…
https://pocketmags.com/us/people-magazine
info
Claim 7: “trust in institutions has declined severely in the UK and many other countries.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence consists of dictionary definitions of 'trust' and legal definitions of 'trusts', but contains no data or reports regarding the actual decline of trust in institutions in the UK or other countries.
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web search NEUTRAL — Trust is the belief that another person will do what is expected and is built through repeated consistency. It brings with it a willingness for one party (the trustor) to become vulnerable to another …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_(social_science)
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web search NEUTRAL — 1 day ago · The meaning of TRUST is assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something. How to use trust in a sentence.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trust
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web search NEUTRAL — A trust is a legal relationship in which the owner of property, or any transferable right, gives it to another to manage and use solely for the benefit of a designated person. In the English common la…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trust_(law)
help
Claim 8: “Research suggests that across societies, the level of belief in conspiracy theories is relatively stable over time.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found after searching to support or refute the claim that belief in conspiracy theories is stable over time across societies.
info
Claim 9: “Our new research, published in the British Journal of Psychology, suggests adverse experiences shape both how fair people believe the world is, and how they view their place in society.”
SINGLE SOURCE
While the evidence confirms the existence of the British Journal of Psychology and the general nature of research, no independent source other than the implied original article confirms this specific study's findings regarding adverse experiences and societal placement.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — British Journal of Educational Psychology is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the British Psychological Society. It was established in 1931. The jou…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Journal_of_Educational…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This list presents a selection of journals in the field of psychology and its branches.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_psychology_journals
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied is a bimonthly double-blind, peer-review psychology journal published by Taylor & Francis. The Journal of Psychology was founded in 1935 by Car…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Journal_of_Psychology
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.