A study of young people in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, reveals that adolescents living in neighborhoods with high rates of violence and poor infrastructure tend to perceive the world as being more unfair for them than for others.
The Center for the Study of Violence ( NEV ), one of FAPESP's Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Centers ( RIDCs ), analyzed the trajectories of "belief in a just world" (BJW) among 659 adolescents aged 12 to 14 over three years. The results were published in an article in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.
The concept of BJW refers to the perception that the world is generally a fair place where people "reap what they sow." This belief is considered fundamental to forming expectations, engaging socially, and internalizing norms and values. However, according to the authors of the article, these beliefs do not develop in a vacuum; rather, they are shaped by concrete experiences in physical and social environments.
"Our hypothesis was that the physical environment, by itself, plays an important role in shaping adolescents' beliefs about justice, regardless of relational factors such as being around parents, teachers, or law enforcement officials," says psychologist André Vilela Komatsu , the first author of the study and a FAPESP fellow (projects 19/09360-6 and 22/07075-5 ).
The co-author is Simone Kühn, a neuroscientist, professor at the University of Hamburg in Germany, and director of the Center for Environmental Neuroscience at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin. Komatsu completed his postdoctoral internship at the institute, where the study was developed in partnership.
The researchers observed that adolescents in neighborhoods marked by neglect, insecurity, and violence not only have lower levels of personal BJW, but also gradually depart from this belief over time. The feeling that one's own life is not governed by justice can have significant implications for both psychological well-being and behavior, affecting aspects such as motivation, self-esteem, and trust in institutions.
In more affluent neighborhoods, young people have a higher personal BJW, though they do not necessarily believe that the world is generally fair. "Even upper-middle-class adolescents perceive social injustice around them," Komatsu points out. "But because they live in more protected environments with access to services and opportunities, they feel less vulnerable and maintain a certain confidence that at least their lives will be fair."
The study reinforces the importance of considering urban and structural factors, such as infrastructure, access to services, and community cohesion, in the debate on citizenship and democratic development. "Degraded environments not only affect physical and mental well-being but also erode trust in institutions and principles of equity," says Komatsu.
According to the researcher, schools have the potential to play a central role in shaping how kids and teens perceive what is fair or unfair in the world around them. "The school environment is the institutional space where young people spend most of their time and continuously interact. In unequal urban areas, schools can promote an experience of citizenship that contrasts with perceived injustices in the neighborhood, transportation, or public safety. On the other hand, when schools reproduce inequalities or punitive and arbitrary practices, they reinforce the perception that institutions are unfair. In our study, we took into account how adolescents perceived their teachers in relation to the fair application of rules, that is, whether they acted with clarity, impartiality, and respect. We know from previous studies that this directly influences the formation of a sense of justice in young people."
The study in question did not consider differences in "belief in a just world" based on gender or race. However, previous studies with the same sample revealed these differences. "These studies revealed that young people with greater social privilege – especially those who identify as white, male, from private schools, and from higher-income families – tend to have a higher personal BJW. In other words, they believe that they live in a world that's fairer for them than for others. Of course, these differences do not only reflect individual perceptions, but also the structural inequalities present in Brazilian society," says Komatsu.
Social media plays a significant role in shaping beliefs and values. "It's important to note that the dissemination of content on social media occurs within ecosystems mediated by algorithms, which tend to amplify content with a high potential for emotional engagement, often simplified, sensationalized, or ideologically biased. These algorithms not only select what's shown but also shape how events are interpreted, reinforcing perception bubbles and confirming prior beliefs. On many pages and profiles, the structural causes of social, racial, and territorial injustices are hidden or distorted and replaced by populist and simplistic narratives. This algorithmic functioning tends to lead people to interpret social injustice as the result of individual behavior or the behavior of specific groups, thereby reinforcing existing stigmas," Komatsu emphasizes.
In this sense, although social media has the potential to foster awareness and social criticism, its algorithms tend to favor sensationalist or emotionally charged content over more balanced and well-founded information, such as that produced by scientists or institutions committed to social justice. "This not only distorts public debate but also hinders adolescents' access to more contextualized and evidence-based interpretations of the causes of the inequalities and injustices that affect them," the researcher argues.
The study points out that urban interventions have the potential to restore a sense of justice among adolescents in vulnerable areas if they address the everyday experiences of these young people. "Actions such as the redevelopment of public spaces – squares, cultural centers, and sports and leisure areas – symbolically convey the message that that community matters and is worthy of care. But it's important that these initiatives be accompanied by participatory processes that foster a sense of belonging and agency, and promote the recognition of adolescents as holders of rights. In addition, continued investment in basic infrastructure, such as lighting, sanitation, transportation, and health, communicates the idea of material value for lives that are often neglected," Komatsu emphasizes.
