Which phenomenon involves believing that people generally get what they deserve?

The just-world phenomenon is the belief that people generally get what they deserve and that justice is inherently served in the world. This psychological concept suggests that individuals tend to rationalize social inequities, believing that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. This belief helps maintain a sense of control and order in the universe, as it can be quite comforting to think that one's actions will directly correlate with positive or negative outcomes.

This phenomenon often leads individuals to overlook the complexities of circumstances affecting people's lives, as it can create biases where they might blame victims for their misfortunes. By believing in a just world, individuals may ignore systemic issues that contribute to social injustice or inequality, leading to a skewed perspective on human behavior and outcomes.

In contrast, the other choices address different psychological concepts that do not relate to the idea of deserved outcomes based on personal behavior. For example, the false uniqueness effect refers to the belief that one's qualities or behaviors are more unique than they actually are. The foot-in-the-door phenomenon involves compliance techniques in social psychology, while the mere-exposure effect describes how people tend to develop a preference for things simply because they are familiar with them. Each of these concepts serves a different purpose in understanding psychology and human