Asymmetrical attributions for approach versus avoidance behavior.
Five studies examined responsibility inferences and/or person and situation attributions in positively versus negatively valenced motivational contexts. In Experiment 1, participants received information about a teaching assistant who was promised a reward or threatened with a punishment when asked for compliance with a requested transgression. The teaching assistant was perceived as more responsible for complying given the positive than the negative incentive. This finding was replicated in Experiment 2 using different vignettes and incentives. Experiment 3 revealed that the effect of incentive valence on perceived responsibility for compliance remains significant when statistically controlling for perceived compliance rates. Experiment 4 then demonstrated that there are not only greater responsibility judgments given a positive than a negative incentive but also greater dispositional attributions. Finally, Experiment 5 revealed that a similar incentive valence effect is found in other appetitive versus aversive motivational contexts. Theoretical explanations of this phenomenon are discussed.
Greitemeyer
Tobias
T
Department of Psychology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Leopoldstrasse 13, 80202 Munich, Germany. togre@psy.uni-muenchen.de
Weiner
Bernard
B
D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012938:Social Perception; D012941:Social Responsibility; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires