Chains of Command: Responsibility Attribution in Hierarchies1

Obedience to authority involves a chain of causation whereby one party causes another to act. Theoretical problems of responsibility in chains of command were addressed and responsibility within interpersonal causal chains was investigated among a quota sample of the Boston SMSA (N= 391). Findings replicated prior investigations of attitudes about the My Lai massacre and Calley trial. Most respondents approached the incident in terms of the assertion versus denial of responsibility—assertion on the basis of personal causation, versus denial the basis of superior orders. Judgments of responsibility for other bureaucratic crimes of obedience (Watergate burglary and cover-up) or for wrongdoing in professional settings differed sharply, but tendencies to assign or reject assignment of responsibility to subordinates were consistently observable across incidents. Demographic cleavages supported earlier conclusions: More educated respondents and religious “others” (Jewish, other groups, and none) were more likely to assert individual responsibility, but education's effects were stronger for non-Catholics. The paper concludes by raising the possibility of training individuals to assert individual responsibility in the face of illegal or immoral commands from authority.     

Perpetrators' Freedom of Choice as a Determinant of Responsibility Attribution

Abstract

In the present study, a swindler had high versus low freedom of choice while deciding to commit a crime. He actually swindled Polish university students (involved observers) out of a large versus a small amount of money (high vs. low loss). Other students (noninvolved observers) were informed about the swindler's action. All students suggested the punishment that they believed the swindler deserved (the punishments chosen were used as an index of responsibility attribution). Involved students assigned more severe punishments than noninvolved students did. In the high-loss condition, involved observers were more punitive than they were in the low-loss condition. The judgments of the swindler's victims were determined by the magnitude of their loss; they ignored information about the swindler's freedom of choice. In contrast, the responsibility attributed by the noninvolved observers was influenced by the swindler's freedom of choice, but only in the low-loss condition. Noninvolved observers informed that the swindler had high freedom of choice were insensitive to information about the magnitude of the consequences for the victim.     

Attribution of Responsibility and Trust in the Milgram Obedience Experiment1

The two primary theoretical explanations for the findings of the Milgram (1963, 1974) obedience studies are that of Milgram, stressing the role of relinquished responsibility to the authority on the one hand, and that of Mixon (1971, 1972), for whom trust in the experimenter is the key element on the other hand. The aim of the 2 studies reported in this article, using edited portions of the film Obedience (Milgram, 1965), was to explore the naive social perceiver's understanding of the dynamics of obedience to authority through his or her attributions about responsibility and trust, and thereby to provide some input into the theoretical controversy between Milgram and Mixon. Both studies were more supportive of Milgram's than of Mixon's position.     

Lay psychology of the hidden mental life: Attribution patterns of unconscious processes

In spite of extensive research on theory of mind, lay theories about the unconscious have scarcely been investigated. Three questionnaire studies totaling 689 participants, examined to what extent they thought that a range of psychological processes could be unconscious. It was found that people are less willing to countenance unconscious processes in themselves than in others, regardless of the time period considered – present, past or future. This is especially true when specific experience-like situations are envisioned, as opposed to considering the question in abstract or generic terms. In addition, the notion of unconscious psychological processes is resisted for certain domains in particular: intending, sensing, believing, and thinking. We interpret this pattern by positing the existence of two conceptions about the unconscious that are differentially applied according to circumstances: one originating in prevalent social representations about the unconscious, the other based on self-model of the person as an intentional actor.     

Attribution of Arousal as a Mediator of the Effectiveness of Fear-Arousing Communications1

Before watching a fear-arousing antismoking movie, male smokers were administered a placebo pill that was said to have either arousing, tranquilizing, or no side effects. Subjects reported less intention to reduce smoking when they could attribute their arousal to the presumably arousing pill, and greater intention to do so when they expected the pill to be tranquilizing, than when they expccted no side effects. The self-reported number of cigarettes smoked during a two-week period following the experiment decreased in both the tranquilizing and no side-effects conditions, but not in the arousing side-effects condition. The data on subjects' i]ntentions are consistent with predictions derived from Kelley's discounting and augmentation principles and demunstrate informational functions of affective states. Several explanations concerning the differences between intentions and behavior are discussed, and implications concerning strategies for behavior change are explored.     

消费者的归因对价格公平感和购买意愿的影响

采用实验情景模拟的方法,通过2X5的被试间设计,以712名被试作为研究对象,检验了在不同原因和不同商品涨价情景下消费者的价格公平感和购买意愿。在不提供涨价原因的情景下,被试的反应比较温和。根据归因理论,从控制点和可控性的维度区分了四种研究情景。结果发现,控制点和可控性之间的交互作用显著,控制点和商品种类的交互作用显著,消费者的消极情绪和对组织的评价在公平感与购买意愿之间具有部分中介效应。     

Reaction to Self-Attributed Victim Responsibility: A Comparative Analysis of Rape Crisis Counselors and Lay Observers1

This research examined observers' reactions to sexual assault victims engaging in different forms of self-attributed responsibility. Theory and research suggests that behavioral responsibility contributes positively to the coping process of victims, whereas characterological responsibility impedes it. For observers in the present study, the expression of either type of self-responsibility by a rape victim resulted in a more negative impression of the victim's emotional well-being and greater attribution of responsibility to the victim in comparison to a victim relying solely on chance explanations. Moreover, this bias was evident among rape crisis counselors as well as lay observers. Discussion considered the implications of such biased perceptions for sexual assault victims and the need for a fuller understanding of the nature of self-attributions of responsibility by victims.     

The Analysis of Verbal Explanations for Marital Separation: Implications for Attribution Theory1

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the structure and content of real-life attributions, using these data to examine some important theoretical and empirical issues in attribution theory. The causal attributions examined came from free-response verbal protocols of explanations for marital separation of 29 males and 33 females living in New Zealand. Respondents gave causal importance weghts to the attributions from their verbal protocols, utilizing the technique of subjective magnitude estimation. Ipsative data, representing perceived causal responsibility for different attribution targets (self, ex-spouse, external factors, etc.), were derived from these weights, and the impact a range of independent variables exerted on these derived free-response attribution percentages was examined. Evidence is presented which supports the validity and reliability of this technique. The normative data gathered was found to be both consistent and inconsistent with different aspects of attribution theory. The implications for attribution theory are discussed.     

Interposition as a Cue for the Perception of Relative Distance

Monitoring sleep through electroencephalography and electroculography has identified the different sleep stages in which nightmares, night terrors, and sleepwalking occur. Questionnaire surveys have supplemented the findings of case studies of these sleep disorders. Neurotransmitters operative during these sleep disorders have enlarged the knowledge of the psychophysiological dimensions especially of nightmares.     

Lay Explanations of Wealth: Attributions for Economic Success1

The explanations people give for wealth, or financial success, are not only of considerable political importance, but also offer an opportunity to assess some of the implications of attribution theory in a real-lie setting. In the present study, 324 subjects from all walks of life and a variety of socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds were asked to anonymously complete an extensive questionnaire assessing their (a) free response explanations of the most common sources of wealth, (b) estimates of necessary income levels for “wealth” and “a decent life,” and (c) attribution judgments for likely causes of wealth in five target categories of people. The target categories were manipulated in terms of social class and ethnicity, to include native born and migrant, and middle- and working-class characters, as well as attributions to an unspecified other. Results showed that judges used four major attributional categories in explaining wealth (external-social, internal/individual, family background, and luck-risk factors), and that both the target persons' class and ethnicity significantly influenced the attribution strategies used. In addition, the judges' socioeconomic background, demographic position, and voting preferences also significantly affected preferred attributions and estimates of income levels. These results are discussed in terms of the role of social, political, and ideological factors in everyday explanations, and their implications for some assumptions of attribution research are considered.     

Mock Juror Attribution of Criminal Responsibility: Effects of Race and the Guilty But Mentally III (GBMI) Verdict Option1

The present study examined three questions relevant to the insanity defense: Does the availability of the alternative verdict “Guilty But Mentally III” affect juror assessment of criminal responsibility? Does race of defendant significantly affect juror decision-making about who should be acquitted under the insanity defense? And does race of victim significantly influence how jurors decide their final insanity defense verdicts? Race of defendant (black or white), race of victim (black or white), and verdict choice set [(Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI), Guilty, and Not Guilty) vs. (Guilty but Mentally III (GBMI), NGRI, Guilty, and Not Guilty)] were systematically varied. The mock-trial was presented to 197 college student subjects by means of an audiotape and slide show. Following the re-enacted trial, subjects answered a series of questions regarding the case. The main dependent variable was the rendered verdict. Both χ²loglinear analyses revealed a significant relationship between race of defendant and verdict such that the defendant, when presented as black, was acquitted NGRI significantly more often than when the defendant was presented as white. No significant effects were found for race of victim. The availability of the GBMI verdict option resulted in a twofold effect: There was a two-thirds reduction in both NGRI and straight guilty verdicts when the GBMI verdict option was made available. The implications for legal policy and future research are discussed.     

The Survey of Achievement Responsibility (SOAR): Reliability and Validity Data on an Academic Attribution Scale

The Survey of Achievement Responsibility (SOAR) was designed to assess students' causal attributions of success and failure in school-related situations. Unlike other measures of locus of control and attributions, the SOAR simultaneously distinguishes among three broad subject areas—math/science, language arts/ social studies, and physical education-and between two possible outcomes—success and failure. Data on the psychometric characteristics of the SOAR came from two samples from each of two large school districts, one suburban and one metropolitan. A five-stage study of the psychometric qualities of this new instrument revealed: (a) Content validity is high—judges independently classified items into the attribution categories intended by the authors; (b) internal consistency reliabilities are in a range adequate for group research purposes and are comparable to the reliabilities of other measures of attributions; (c) test-retest reliabilities showed attribution profiles to be stable over a 2-month interval; (d) correlations between the SOAR scales and students' self-reports of ability in various subject areas showed differential relationship in the theoretically predicted directions; and (e) correlations between the SOAR scales and achievement tests were statistically significant, though low in magnitude, consistent with reports on other instruments. Finally, use of the SOAR in a spectrum of studies has demonstrated its research utility and indicated directions for further instrument development and research.     

Responsibility Attributions for Drunken Behavior: The Role of Expectancy Violation1

Research on attributions about drunken aggression has suggested that intoxication serves to excuse the aggressor while increasing blame to the victim. In this study, we examined subjects' responses to a scenario depicting a violent interaction in which intoxication of aggressor and victim, victim's behavior, and aggressor's previous violent background were varied. We predicted that to the extent that the violent act violated the expectations of the observer, alcohol intoxication would serve to decrease dispositional and responsibility attributions to the aggressor. Instead, the findings showed that alcohol use led to increased attributions of causality, blame, and responsibility for both aggressor and victim. The results are discussed in terms of both attribution theory and societal factors influencing the acceptability of excuses involving alcohol.     

Attribution of Influence and Charisma to the Leader: The Romance of Leadership Revisited1

This study examined the impact of performance outcomes, leadership type, leader behaviors, and observers' general belief in the importance of leadership on attributions of influence and charisma to a leader. Subjects (N= 549) read 24 versions of an organizational vignette representing all possible combinations of two performance levels, two leadership roles, and six leader behavior conditions, and were asked to evaluate the leader's level of causal influence and charisma. Results supported and extended Meindl's (1990) claim that observers' tendency to romanticize the role of a specific leader is affected by the group performance outcomes and by observers' general beliefs in the importance of leadership in organizations. The results further suggested that more influence may be attributed to a prototypical leadership role than to a less prototypical role. However, information about leader behaviors did not affect the attributions of influence and charisma to the leader. These results are discussed with reference to Conger and Kanungo's (1987) attributional theory of charismatic leadership and leadership categorization theory (Lord, 1985).     

Perception of Injustice as a Predictor of Support for Workplace Aggression

In order to determine the relationship between perceptions of injustice and support for workplace aggression, 139 subjects were presented with four scenarios representing different levels and types of injustice. Subjects then responded to an eight-item aggression scale. Support for aggressive behavior across the scenarios generally corresponded to the amount and type of perceived injustice; a procedural injustice scenario was perceived as the most unjust and led to the most support for aggression. Although the interpersonal and distributive injustice scenarios were seen as virtually identical in terms of injustice, there was significantly more support for aggression with interpersonal injustice. The strongest predictor of support for aggression in the justice scenarios, however, was simply the degree of support for aggression in a neutral, or control, scenario. It is suggested that employers need to be concerned both about fair and courteous relations with employees and also with identifying generally aggressive employees.     

Attribution of intentionality as a function of age,outcome quality and affect for the actor

Studied the degree to which 40 children (half boys, half girls) in each of three age groups of 5–6, 7–8 and 9–10 years would be affected by the qualities of the actors and the outcomes in perceiving certain acts as either intentional or accidental. Each subject was randomly assigned to either the liked-actor or the disliked-actor conditions and was then administered both the good- and the bad-outcome stories, represented by pictures. Upon listening to each story in which the motivation of the actor was left ambiguous, the subject was asked to specify whether the act was meant to be done or not. The results indicate that in general all children showed a significant tendency to interpret a bad outcome caused by a liked actor as being accidental and that caused by a disliked actor as being intentional; conversely, when the outcome was good, the behavior of the disliked actor was interpreted as being accidental and that of the liked one as being intentional. Although there were no age differences within the experimental conditions, differences were observed between the conditions for different age groups. In general a developmental lag was revealed in the attributive behavior with respect to the disliked-actor condition. One important implication of the study is that children by 5 years of age seem to have learned the evaluative difference between causing something intentionally or accidentally, depending on the outcome quality. The results were interpreted in terms of Heider's ‘balance principles’ which were suggested to serve as a vehicle for making causal inferences.     

The abused child as parent: Perception of self and other

Although not all abused children grow up to be abusive parents, it is well known that people who were severely mistreated by their parents as compared to those who were not are at higher risk for mistreating their children. It has also been shown that abusive parents often have unrealistic expectations for their children—expectations based on distorted perceptions of their children's needs, feelings, and abilities. In this paper, we examine the utility of new methods developed in social psychology to study: (1) the impact of abuse on the structure and content of interpersonal and self-perception and (2) the interrelationships among an abused mother's social and self-perception, the quality of her interactions with her child, and the child's development. Case studies will be presented to illustrate how these new methods reflect risk for abuse as predicted independently by clinicians treating the cases.