Schneider Teresa, Sauerland Melanie, Merckelbach Harald, Puschke Jens, Cohrs J Christopher
Department of Law, Institute of Criminal Sciences, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
Section of Social Psychology, Department of Psychology, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
Front Psychol. 2021 Feb 2;12:621960. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.621960. eCollection 2021.
Inspired by theories of prosocial behavior, we tested the effect of relationship status and incentives on intended voluntary blame-taking in two experiments (Experiment 2 was pre-registered). Participants ( = 211 and = 232) imagined a close family member, a close friend, or an acquaintance and read a scenario that described this person committing a minor traffic offense. The person offered either a monetary, social, or no incentive for taking the blame. Participants indicated their willingness to take the blame and reasons for and against blame-taking. Overall, a sizable proportion of participants indicated to be willing to take the blame (E: 57.8%; E: 34.9%). Blame-taking rates were higher for family members than close friends or acquaintances in both experiments, as expected. Unexpectedly, there was no difference between a close friend and an acquaintance in Experiment 2. Social incentives did not have an effect on voluntary blame-taking in either experiment. Neither did we find an interaction between relationship status and incentives. The results highlight the importance of kin relationships in the context of voluntary blame-taking.
受亲社会行为理论的启发，我们在两项实验中测试了关系状态和激励措施对预期自愿承担责任的影响（实验2进行了预注册）。参与者（实验1有211人，实验2有232人）想象一位亲密的家庭成员、一位亲密的朋友或一个熟人，并阅读了一个描述此人犯下轻微交通违法行为的场景。此人提供了金钱、社交或不提供任何激励措施来促使参与者承担责任。参与者表明了他们承担责任的意愿以及支持和反对承担责任的理由。总体而言，相当比例的参与者表示愿意承担责任（实验1：57.8%；实验2：34.9%）。正如预期的那样，在两项实验中，家庭成员承担责任的比例都高于亲密朋友或熟人。出乎意料的是，在实验2中，亲密朋友和熟人之间没有差异。社交激励措施在两项实验中对自愿承担责任均无影响。我们也没有发现关系状态和激励措施之间的相互作用。结果凸显了亲属关系在自愿承担责任背景下的重要性。
