The Way Perceived Justice Affects Environmental Policy Support

Perceptions of justice have been widely discussed as an important lens through which individuals interpret social experiences and evaluate public policies. This exploratory qualitative study examines how perceived justice, particularly Belief in a Just World (BJW), is associated with attitudes toward support for environmental policy among undergraduate students aged 18 years or older recruited from higher education institutions (HEIs) in Bangkok, Thailand. An online screening survey was used to identify students with relatively high and low levels of Personal Belief in a Just World (PBJW) from four HEIs, followed by in-depth interviews with 21 participants. Reflexive thematic analysis was employed to explore patterns in participants’ reasoning about environmental policies. The analysis suggests that students’ interpretations of environmental policy are shaped by their life experiences, levels of knowledge, personal impacts of policy measures, and by broader socioeconomic contexts. Rather than establishing causal relationships, the findings provide insight into how perceptions of justice may inform policy evaluations within this specific group. These results point to the importance of policy framing and design that are sensitive to differences in perceived fairness and lived experiences, while recognizing the contextual and exploratory nature of the study.