Inferences about the morality of an aggressor: the role of perceived motive.

Full Abstract

The research investigated perceivers' inferences about the morality of target persons who engaged in aggressive behavior. Across several experiments, inferences about the morality of an aggressor were based more on the perceived motives of the target than on the presence of facilitating situational forces. For example, when a target's aggression was facilitated by personal rewards for aggression (instrumental aggression), perceivers inferred more negative motives and attributed lower morality to the target than when the target's aggression was facilitated by situational provocation (reactive aggression). The results suggest that perceived motives play an important role in dispositional inference and pose a problem for models that focus primarily on perceived causality, assumptions about base rates (consensus), or diagnosticity.

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Author information

Author/s: Reeder, Glenn D (GD); Kumar, Shamala (S); Hesson-McInnis, Matthew S (MS); Trafimow, David (D);

Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, Normal 61790, USA. gdreeder(-atsign-)ilstu.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Clinical Trial; Controlled Clinical Trial; Journal Article

Journal: Journal of personality and social psychology (J Pers Soc Psychol), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2002-Oct; vol 83 (issue 4) : pp 789-803

Dates: Created 2002/10/10; Completed 2003/03/14; Revised 2004/11/17;

PMID: 12374435, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Aggression - psychology
Female
Humans
Linear Models
Male

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