From Hate Speech to Justice Beliefs: A Serial Mediation Model Linking Victimization, School Climate, and Adolescents’ Personal Belief in a Just World

J Genet Psychol. 2026 Jul 10:1-16. doi: 10.1080/00221325.2026.2700211. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Victimization through hate speech represents identity-based violence during adolescence and is negatively related to core beliefs about justice. However, there is limited information on how exposure to hate speech leads to changes in an adolescent’s Personal Belief in a Just World (PBJW). This study used the frameworks of Trauma Theory and Just World Theory to examine a serial mediation model in which victimization through hate speech was expected to lead indirectly to lower PBJW through perceived unsafety at school and decreased school well-being. A sample of 1,108 adolescents (M_age = 15.59; 61% female) in Italy completed self-report measures of victimization through hate speech, perceived school unsafety, school well-being, and PBJW. Results obtained using PROCESS Model 6 with 5,000 bootstrap samples indicated a significant indirect relationship: exposure to hate speech was associated with greater perceptions of unsafety in the school environment, which in turn were associated with lower levels of school well-being and lower PBJW. The direct effect of hate speech on PBJW was not significant, suggesting that the psychological impact of hate speech is primarily a result of how adolescents experience changes in their school environment on a daily basis. These results illustrate the cognitive pathway through which exposure to hate speech may contribute to adolescents’ internalization of personal justice beliefs. This study advances understanding of the associations among hate speech victimization, school climate perceptions, and adolescents’ personal beliefs about justice by identifying a theoretically derived pathway linking these constructs.

PMID:42429793 | DOI:10.1080/00221325.2026.2700211