How does “this” keyword work within a function?

I just came across an interesting situation in JavaScript. I have a class with a method that defines several objects using object-literal notation. Inside those objects, the this pointer is being used. From the behavior of the program, I have deduced that the this pointer is referring to the class on which the method was invoked, and not the object being created by the literal.

This seems arbitrary, though it is the way I would expect it to work. Is this defined behavior? Is it cross-browser safe? Is there any reasoning underlying why it is the way it is beyond “the spec says so” (for instance, is it a consequence of some broader design decision/philosophy)? Pared-down code example:

// inside class definition, itself an object literal, we have this function:
onRender: function() {

    this.menuItems = this.menuItems.concat([
        {
            text: 'Group by Module',
            rptletdiv: this
        },
        {
            text: 'Group by Status',
            rptletdiv: this
        }]);
    // etc
}