TY - JOUR

T1 - Free to blame? Belief in free will is related to victim blaming

AU - Genschow, Oliver

AU - Vehlow, Benjamin

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Inc.

PY - 2021/2/1

Y1 - 2021/2/1

N2 - The more people believe in free will, the harsher their punishment of criminal offenders. A reason for this finding is that belief in free will leads individuals to perceive others as responsible for their behavior. While research supporting this notion has mainly focused on criminal offenders, the perspective of the victims has been neglected so far. We filled this gap and hypothesized that individuals’ belief in free will is positively correlated with victim blaming—the tendency to make victims responsible for their bad luck. In three studies, we found that the more individuals believe in free will, the more they blame victims. Study 3 revealed that belief in free will is correlated with victim blaming even when controlling for just world beliefs, religious worldviews, and political ideology. The results contribute to a more differentiated view of the role of free will beliefs and attributed intentions.

AB - The more people believe in free will, the harsher their punishment of criminal offenders. A reason for this finding is that belief in free will leads individuals to perceive others as responsible for their behavior. While research supporting this notion has mainly focused on criminal offenders, the perspective of the victims has been neglected so far. We filled this gap and hypothesized that individuals’ belief in free will is positively correlated with victim blaming—the tendency to make victims responsible for their bad luck. In three studies, we found that the more individuals believe in free will, the more they blame victims. Study 3 revealed that belief in free will is correlated with victim blaming even when controlling for just world beliefs, religious worldviews, and political ideology. The results contribute to a more differentiated view of the role of free will beliefs and attributed intentions.

KW - Belief in a just world

KW - Free will belief

KW - Intention attribution

KW - Political ideology

KW - Religiosity

KW - Responsibility

KW - Victim blaming

KW - Business psychology

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099241886&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.concog.2020.103074

DO - 10.1016/j.concog.2020.103074

M3 - Journal articles

C2 - 33445078

AN - SCOPUS:85099241886

VL - 88

JO - Consciousness and Cognition

JF - Consciousness and Cognition

SN - 1053-8100

M1 - 103074

ER -