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      Speculations on the Evolutionary Origins of System Justification

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          Abstract

          For centuries, philosophers and social theorists have wondered why people submit voluntarily to tyrannical leaders and oppressive regimes. In this article, we speculate on the evolutionary origins of system justification, that is, the ways in which people are motivated (often nonconsciously) to defend and justify existing social, economic, and political systems. After briefly recounting the logic of system justification theory and some of the most pertinent empirical evidence, we consider parallels between the social behaviors of humans and other animals concerning the acceptance versus rejection of hierarchy and dominance. Next, we summarize research in human neuroscience suggesting that specific brain regions, such as the amygdala and the anterior cingulate cortex, may be linked to individual differences in ideological preferences concerning (in)equality and social stability as well as the successful navigation of complex, hierarchical social systems. Finally, we consider some of the implications of a system justification perspective for the study of evolutionary psychology, political behavior, and social change.

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          A Decade of System Justification Theory: Accumulated Evidence of Conscious and Unconscious Bolstering of the Status Quo

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            A Theory of Fairness, Competition, and Cooperation

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              The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Evol Psychol
                Evol Psychol
                EVP
                spevp
                Evolutionary Psychology
                SAGE Publications (Sage CA: Los Angeles, CA )
                1474-7049
                18 June 2018
                Apr-Jun 2018
                : 16
                : 2
                : 1474704918765342
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Department of Psychology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
                [2 ]Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
                [3 ]Department of Political Science, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
                Author notes
                [*]John T. Jost, Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Pl., New York, NY 10003, USA. Email: john.jost@ 123456nyu.edu
                Article
                10.1177_1474704918765342
                10.1177/1474704918765342
                10481024
                29911406
                d8b459e1-fb6a-4e84-92fc-3971064778ba
                © The Author(s) 2018

                This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ( http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages ( https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

                History
                : 18 September 2017
                : 18 February 2018
                Funding
                Funded by: National Science Foundation, FundRef https://doi.org/10.13039/100000001;
                Award ID: BCS-1627691
                Categories
                Special Issue: Evolution and Politics
                Custom metadata
                April-June 2018

                system justification,ideology,political neuroscience,amygdala,hierarchy,evolutionary psychology

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