Just-World Hypothesis
The Just-World Hypothesis is a cognitive bias where individuals believe that actions always have morally predictable consequences—that "good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people." Formalized by Melvin Lerner in the 1960s, this mental model explains the psychological root of victim-blaming, the "hustle culture" myth of pure meritocracy, and our deep resistance to accepting the role of luck in success. Understanding the Just-World Hypothesis allows decision-makers to build fairer organizational systems and more accurately diagnose the systemic causes of failure.