Delker Brianna C, Means Kira K, Schwam Allison, Patterson Aubrie L, Fogel Camille A, Brown Amelita, Czopp Alex M, McLean Kate C
Department of Psychology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2024 Dec 31;19(12):e0311983. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311983. eCollection 2024.
When accused of wrongdoing, a sexual assault perpetrator may express atonement, i.e., he may acknowledge harm done, take responsibility, and make amends. Anecdotal observations suggest that mainstream U.S. audiences respond favorably when high-status perpetrators express less atonement, such as telling stories that minimize harm, or place responsibility on the victim. However, empirically, little is known about how perpetrator status and atonement influence audience responses. Informed by system justification theory, this vignette-based experiment tested the hypothesis that the more audiences are psychologically invested in an unequal status quo (i.e., the greater their system justification beliefs), the more they will favor perpetrators (vs. victims), especially when high-status perpetrators atone less, and low-status perpetrators atone more. In a pre-registered 2(perpetrator status: low, high) x 3(perpetrator narrative atonement: low, medium, high) x continuous(participant system justification) between-subjects design, U.S. adults (N = 895) were randomly assigned to read 1 of 6 first-person stories by a white male who has been accused of sexual assault by a female acquaintance. Dependent measures included perceived severity of and relative responsibility for the assault, empathy toward perpetrator and victim, and ratings of their likeability and positive personality traits. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that, instead of the hypothesized interactive effects, there were consistent main effects of system justification and atonement across perpetrator status levels. The greater their system justification beliefs, the more participants favored perpetrators, the less severe they rated the assault, and the less they favored victims. Greater perpetrator atonement boosted favorability ratings for him and the victim. Conversely, less perpetrator atonement diminished his favorability ratings, but also made the assault appear less severe and less his (vs. the victim's) responsibility. Findings underscore the strong influences that perpetrator stories and psychological investment in an unequal status quo have on perceptions of sexual violence.
当被指控有不当行为时，性侵犯者可能会表达赎罪之情，也就是说，他可能会承认造成的伤害、承担责任并做出弥补。轶事观察表明，当地位较高的犯罪者表达较少的赎罪之情时，比如讲述将伤害最小化或归咎于受害者的故事，美国主流受众会做出积极回应。然而，从实证角度来看，关于犯罪者地位和赎罪如何影响受众反应，我们所知甚少。基于系统正当化理论，这个基于 vignette 的实验检验了以下假设：受众在心理上对不平等现状投入越多（即他们的系统正当化信念越强），就越会偏袒犯罪者（相对于受害者），尤其是当地位高的犯罪者赎罪较少而地位低的犯罪者赎罪较多时。在一项预先注册的 2（犯罪者地位：低、高）×3（犯罪者叙述赎罪：低、中、高）×连续（参与者系统正当化）被试间设计中，美国成年人（N = 895）被随机分配阅读一名被女性熟人指控性侵犯的白人男性所写的 6 个第一人称故事中的一个。因变量包括对性侵严重程度的感知、性侵的相对责任、对犯罪者和受害者的同理心，以及对他们的喜爱程度和积极人格特质的评分。分层回归分析表明，与假设的交互作用不同，在犯罪者地位水平上，系统正当化和赎罪存在一致的主效应。参与者的系统正当化信念越强，就越偏袒犯罪者，他们对性侵严重程度的评分越低，对受害者的偏袒也越少。犯罪者的赎罪越多，对他和受害者的喜爱评分就越高。相反，犯罪者的赎罪越少，他的喜爱评分就越低，但也会使性侵看起来不那么严重，且责任也更少归咎于他（相对于受害者）。研究结果强调了犯罪者的故事以及对不平等现状的心理投入对性暴力认知的强大影响。
