System‐justifying beliefs buffer against psychological distress during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

AbstractThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has had a detrimental effect on people's mental health. Drawing on the palliative function of ideologies, we suggest that people rely on system‐justifying beliefs to mitigate psychological distress during the pandemic. We conducted three studies with correlational and experimental designs to examine whether and how system‐justifying beliefs can buffer against psychological distress during COVID‐19, and whether this effect may vary across social classes. The results indicated that (a) system‐justifying beliefs alleviated psychological distress during the pandemic, (b) personal control mediated this relationship and (c) this effect was consistent across all social classes. This study provides robust evidence for the palliative function of system‐justifying beliefs during a massive global health crisis (i.e. COVID‐19).