An eagerness to believe that victims of a natural disaster are being punished by God for their sins is best explained in terms of

A) the scapegoat theory.
B) ingroup bias.
C) hindsight bias.
D) the just-world phenomenon.

Just-World Phenomenon

A cognitive bias that leads individuals to believe that the world is inherently fair, leading them to rationalize an unwarranted, good or bad situation as deserving.

Natural Disaster

Severe, catastrophic events resulting from natural processes of the Earth, such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and volcanic eruptions.

Punished

The administration of a negative consequence or removal of a positive stimulus following an undesired behavior, with the intention of decreasing that behavior's occurrence in the future.