Affiliation:
1. College of Business, Government and Law Flinders University Adelaide South Australia Australia
2. Department of Psychology Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität Munich Germany
Abstract
AbstractPunishment is expected to have an educative, behaviour‐controlling effect on the transgressor. Yet, this effect often remains unattained. Here, we test the hypothesis that transgressors' inferences about punisher motives crucially shape transgressors' post‐punishment attitudes and behaviour. As such, we give primacy to the social and relational dimensions of punishment in explicating how sanctions affect outcomes. Across four studies using different methodologies (N = 1189), our findings suggest that (a) communicating punishment respectfully increases transgressor perceptions that the punisher is trying to repair the relationship between the transgressor and their group (relationship‐oriented motive) and reduces perceptions of harm‐oriented and self‐serving motives, and that (b) attributing punishment to relationship‐oriented (vs. harm/self‐oriented, or even victim‐oriented) motives increases prosocial attitudes and behaviour. This research consolidates and extends various theoretical perspectives on interactions in justice settings, providing suggestions for how best to deliver sanctions to transgressors.
Funder
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme