A groundbreaking investigation into the developmental psychology of adolescents residing in São Paulo, Brazil, unveils a profound connection between their physical surroundings and their evolving perceptions of justice. The study reveals that youths inhabiting neighborhoods plagued by violence and infrastructural neglect increasingly perceive the world as inherently unjust toward themselves compared to others. This nuanced exploration into the concept known as "belief in a just world" (BJW) provides critical insight into how environmental adversity shapes the moral and psychological frameworks of young individuals.
Conducted by the São Paulo-based Center for the Study of Violence (NEV), a Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Center (RIDC) funded by FAPESP, the longitudinal study tracked 659 adolescents aged between 12 and 14 over three successive years. The comprehensive research employed a blend of psychometric assessments and neighborhood environment analyses to capture the dynamic trajectories of BJW— a construct describing the ingrained expectation that life operates on principles of fairness, where individuals ultimately receive outcomes commensurate with their actions. Published in the March 2025 issue of the Journal of Environmental Psychology, the article elucidates how this belief system falters in contexts marked by socio-structural deprivation.
BJW serves as a psychological cornerstone enabling individuals to maintain coherent expectations, adhere to social norms, and engage confidently in societal participation. Yet, as the study’s lead author, psychologist André Vilela Komatsu, explains, this conviction is not formed in isolation but intimately tied to concrete lived experiences within one’s physical and social milieu. The research uniquely isolates the influence of the material environment, positing that physical conditions independently sculpt adolescents’ sense of justice beyond interpersonal relational factors such as familial or institutional interactions.
This innovative perspective was developed through a collaborative partnership with the Max Planck Institute for Human Development’s Center for Environmental Neuroscience in Berlin, where co-author and neuroscientist Simone Kühn provides critical expertise. The integration of neuroscientific insight underscores the multidimensional nature of BJW’s formation, emphasizing that brain development and environmental stimuli interact complexly during adolescence to shape justice-related beliefs.
The empirical findings distinctly portray that adolescents from violent and neglected neighborhoods exhibit lower baseline levels of personal BJW and increasingly depart from this belief over time. This erosion of trust in justice profoundly influences core psychological parameters including motivation, self-esteem, and institutional trust. The diminished expectation of fairness in their own lives may precipitate adverse behaviors and psychological distress, signaling broader societal implications.
Conversely, the investigation identified that adolescents in more privileged and affluent neighborhoods demonstrate a comparatively higher personal BJW, notwithstanding their awareness of systemic social injustices. Komatsu highlights that even higher socioeconomic groups recognize pervasive inequities; however, their sheltered environments, replete with access to resources and opportunities, foster a protective buffer that sustains a personal confidence in the fairness of their own lived experience.
Crucially, this research advocates the significance of urban planning and structural interventions in shaping adolescents’ justice perceptions. Infrastructure quality, availability of public services, and cohesive communal relations emerge as pivotal factors that either erode or reinforce beliefs in equitable treatment. Komatsu articulates that the degradation of physical environments corresponds with psychological detriments and an erosion of civic trust, fundamentally undermining democratic values and inclusion.
Within these contexts, schools emerge as vital institutional agents capable of altering adolescents’ justice-related worldviews. Serving as primary spaces for social interaction and rule internalization, schools can either mitigate or exacerbate perceptions of unfairness. The study incorporated adolescents’ evaluations of their teachers’ fairness, particularly regarding consistent, transparent, and respectful rule enforcement, underscoring how pedagogic practices influence justice formation. In unequal urban settings, equitable schooling experiences may act as counterweights to neighborhood injustices, while discriminatory or punitive schooling practices deepen feelings of institutional untrustworthiness.
Although this particular study did not disaggregate BJW by gender or racial categories, antecedent research on the same cohort did reveal disparities aligning with societal structures of privilege. Youths identifying as white, male, enrolled in private schools, or from higher-income brackets exhibited elevated personal BJW, reflecting an internalized sense that the world is fairer toward them. These findings reiterate that belief systems about justice cannot be divorced from the broader matrix of systemic inequalities embedded within Brazilian society.
The role of social media as a contemporary influence on adolescents’ sense of justice also receives critical attention in this research. Komatsu elucidates how algorithm-driven content curation amplifies emotionally provocative and often ideologically skewed narratives. This digital environment frequently obscures systemic causes of injustice, instead promoting reductive and populist explanations that attribute social disparities to individual failings or group behaviors, thereby perpetuating stigmas and impeding nuanced understanding.
Despite the potential of social media platforms to cultivate social awareness and critical engagement, their propensity to favor sensationalism undermines balanced discourse. This media environment complicates adolescent access to rigorously contextualized and evidence-based interpretations of social inequalities, representing a modern barrier to cultivating a comprehensive and informed BJW.
Reflecting on potential remedies, the study emphasizes that targeted urban interventions—such as revitalizing public spaces like parks, cultural centers, and recreational facilities—can symbolically and materially assert communal worth and foster a renewed sense of justice among vulnerable youth. However, Komatsu stresses that these efforts must incorporate participatory processes, encouraging adolescents’ active agency and affirming their status as rights-bearing citizens to be truly effective.
Moreover, continuous investment in fundamental infrastructure encompassing lighting, sanitation, transportation, and healthcare is indispensable. Such investments materialize societal acknowledgement of often marginalized lives and communicate broader political commitments to equity, which may gradually rebuild fractured trust and justice perceptions among adolescents.
In synthesizing these findings, the article published under the DOI 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102582 articulates a sophisticated interplay between physical environment, social context, and psychological development. It compellingly challenges policymakers, educators, urban planners, and social scientists to recognize that justice is not merely a legal or philosophical construct but a lived experience profoundly mediated by the environments in which young people grow and learn.
As cities worldwide grapple with the twin challenges of inequality and social cohesion, this study offers critical evidence for adopting holistic strategies that intertwine environmental renewal with social justice objectives. Shaping the next generation’s belief in a just world is not solely a matter of moral education but fundamentally intertwined with the physical realities that frame their daily lives.
Subject of Research: Adolescents’ development of belief in a just world in relation to physical environment
Article Title: The effect of the physical environment on adolescents’ sense of justice
News Publication Date: 21-Mar-2025
Web References: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272494425000659
References: DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102582
Keywords: Adolescents, Behavioral psychology, Environmental issues
