Robbie Sutton (University of Kent) & Hélder Alves (ISCTE-IUL)

Several lines of research demonstrate that human beings generally prefer to perceive the world – and especially their social environments – to be just and legitimate.  This workshop will explore the social psychology of justification and legitimation.  We will discuss the importance of justice and legitimacy in major social psychological theories, including just-world, system justification, social dominance, and social identity theory.  Early in the workshop, we will explore important gaps in researchers' current understanding of gender (including sexism and objectification), economic inequality, environmental behaviour, and the social psychological function of justification and legitimation.  Students will then workshop their own research ideas, being guided through through building theory, formulating research questions, and designing research.  In so doing, students will be free to build either on some of the open research questions that we have identified, or to identify new research questions about the role of justification and legitimation in phenomena that interest them.  These workshops will result in the development of packages of studies to be run, analysed, and published collaboratively by groups of students.