Journal of Psychological Science ›› 2023, Vol. 46 ›› Issue (6): 1375-1382.DOI: 10.16719/j.cnki.1671-6981.20230613

• Social,Personality & Organizational Psychology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The Effects of Mind Perception and the Belief in A Just World on Innocent Victim-Blaming

Wang Yue1, Li Zhengqing1,2, Wang Kun3, Li Ying1   

  1. 1School of Education, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001;
    2School of Education Science, Nanning Normal University, Nanning, 530299;
    3Zhengzhou University of Economics and Business, Department of Physical Education, Zhengzhou, 451191
  • Published:2023-12-19

心智感知与公正世界信念对责备无辜受害者行为的影响 *

王悦1, 李政青1,2, 王堃3, 李莹**1   

  1. 1郑州大学教育学院, 郑州, 450001;
    2南宁师范大学教育科学学院, 南宁, 530299;
    3郑州经贸学院体育教学部, 郑州, 451191
  • 通讯作者: **李莹,E-mail: liying@zzu.edu.cn
  • 基金资助:
    *本研究得到教育部人文社会科学研究青年项目(20YJC190023)、河南省教育科学规划重点项目(2022JKZD32)、郑州大学研究生教育研究项目(YJSJY202147)和郑州大学人文社会科学优秀青年科研团队项目的资助

Abstract:

Abundant research on the Theory of Dyadic Morality has shown that the perceived harm is the core of moral judgment. The pain of the victim is one of the constituent elements of the perceived harm, and the judge's assessment of the pain of the victim is affected by mind perception. There are two important elements in mind perception, including agency and experience. Agency is corresponding to the moral responsibility, while experience is corresponding to the moral rights. The Theory of Dyadic Morality sticks to the view that agents are blameworthy, and patients deserve sympathy. In other words, the judge will blame the perpetrators more and sympathize with the victims more. However, the Belief in A Just World Theory gives different suggestions. The justice threat posed by the innocent victim suffering more serious harm is very likely to lead the judge to stay away from and blame the victim instead of sympathizing. This study explored the effects of mind perception, the effects of mind perception and belief in a just world on innocent victim-blaming through two studies.

Study 1 used a single-factor between-subject design. The independent variable was the victim's minds(including agency and experience), and the dependent variable was the degree of blame on the innocent victim. According to the mind perception,113 participants were randomly divided into the agency group and experience group to read a story about an agency victim or an experience victim. After reading the victim scenario ,they were required to score the degree of blame on the victim. A two(BJW: the high BJW threat, the lowBJW threat)*two(mind perception: agency, experience)between-subject design was made in study 2, and the dependent variables were the degree of blame on victims and the willingness to help the victims.178 participants were subjected to different manipulations of the BJW threat and mind perception. A story about an unjust world was used to prime the high BJW threat, and another story about an just world was used to prime the low BJW threat.

The results were as follow: (1) Mind perception affects the observers’ behavior of innocent victim-blaming, and the experience victim got less blaming than the agency victim. (2) The BJW and mind perception had an interactive effect on the behavior of blaming in the low-threat condition. That is, the experience victim got less blaming from observers who were not threatened by injustice than the agency victim. In contrast, in the high-threat condition, the observers were threatened by strong injustice and might be in an irrational state, so the agency victim got less blaming than the experience victim. (3)There was no interaction effect between the BJW and mind perception on the willingness to help victims. Observers with high BJW threat were more willing to help victims than observers with low BJW threat.

The present study suggests that mind perception influences the behavior of innocent victim-blaming, which may be limited by observers’ Belief in A Just World.

Key words: theory of dyadic morality, mind perception, belief in a just world theory, innocent victim-blaming

摘要: 基于道德二元论及公正世界信念理论,本研究旨在探究心智感知与公正世界信念对责备无辜受害者现象的影响。研究结果表明:(1)心智感知显著影响观察者对无辜受害者的责备程度,能动性受害者比感受性受害者更容易受到责备;(2)公正世界信念与心智感知共同影响责备无辜受害者的程度,低公正世界信念条件下,感受性受害者获得更少责备,但高公正世界信念条件下,感受性受害者获得更多责备。本研究揭示了心智感知对责备无辜受害者行为的影响机制,并在公正世界信念框架下对责备无辜受害者现象有了进一步的认识。

关键词: 道德二元论, 心智感知, 公正世界信念, 责备无辜受害者