Vallabha, S., Doriscar, J., & Brandt, M. J. (in press)
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Most recent modification 2 Jan 24
Abstract
Groups have committed historical wrongs (e.g., genocide, slavery). We investigated why people blame current groups who were not involved in the original historical wrong for the actions of their predecessors who committed these wrongs and are no longer alive. Current models of individual and group blame overlook the dimension of time and therefore have difficulty explaining this phenomenon using their existing criteria like causality, intentionality, or preventability. We hypothesized that factors that help psychologically bridge the past and present, like perceiving higher (i) connectedness between past and present perpetrator groups, (ii) continued privilege of perpetrator groups, (iii) continued harm of victim groups, and (iv) unfulfilled forward obligations of perpetrator groups would facilitate higher blame judgements against current groups for the past. In two repeated-measures surveys using real events (N1 = 518, N2 = 495) and two conjoint experiments using hypothetical events (N3 = 598, N4 = 605), we find correlational and causal evidence for our hypotheses. These factors link present groups to their past and cause more historical blame and support for compensation policies. This brings the dimension of time into theories of blame, uncovers overlooked criteria for blame judgements, and questions the assumptions of existing blame models. Additionally, it helps us understand the psychological processes undergirding intergroup relations and historical narratives mired in historical conflict. Our work provides psychological insight into the debates on intergenerational justice by suggesting methods people can use to ameliorate the psychological legacies of historical wrongs and atrocities.
(cut)
General Discussion
We tested four factors of blame towards current groups for their historical wrongs. We found correlational and causal evidence for our hypothesized factors across a broad range of hypothetical and real events. We found that when people perceive current perpetrator group to have connectedness with their past, the current victim group to be suffering due to past harm, the current perpetrator group to be benefiting from past harm, and the current perpetrator groupto have not fulfilled their obligations to remedy the wrong, historical blame judgements towards the current perpetrator groups are higher. On the whole, this was consistent across the location of the event (whether the participant was judging a historical American event or a historical non-American event), the group membership of the participant (whether the participant belonged to the victim or perpetrator group or neither/privileged or marginalized group), the ideology of the participant (whether the participant identified as a liberal or conservative), and the age of the participants. We also found that these factors were causally associated with behavioral intention, such as support for compensation to victim groups. Finally, we also found that historical blame attribution might mediate the effect of the key factors on support for compensation to victim groups. The four psychological factors that we identified as antecedents to perceptions of historical blame all help psychologically bridge the past and present. These factors provide psychological links between the past and present groups, in their characteristics (connectedness), outcomes (harm/benefit), and actions (unfulfilled obligations).
