Just (vs. unjust)

Is the universe a place where you get what you deserve and deserve what you get? This primal can be thought of as a belief in cosmic fairness, proportionality, karma, rewarding righteousness and judging sin, Newton’s 3^rd law, or just the idea that what goes around comes around. Its opposite holds that the world is a fundamentally unfair place where your—or anyone’s—chance of getting what you deserve is slim to none.

Hard work pays off.

— Seth Aaron, upon winning season 7 of Project Runway, 2010

Karma is kind of like Newton’s third law, so every effect has an equal and opposite effect or every action has an equal and opposite reaction. 

— Focus group participant, Hindu, 2014

Just is part of the big-three primal Safe. It is the only primal that was well-studied before the UPenn primals project started its work. Numerous studies point to three broad themes. People who see the world as a Just place tend to (a) work harder and are more productive because the world rewards working hard, (b) be nicer to others because the world rewards being nice, and (c) blame people for their troubles, including the poor, criminals, the sick, and victims of crimes like rape, because the world punishes being lazy, immoral, and unkind.

Republicans tend to see the world as more Just than Democrats. Also, among Republicans, seeing the world as Just helps predict if you supported Donald Trump in the 2016 Presidential primaries. Among primals, only Hierarchical is more predictive of voting behavior and political views.