Abstract

Two studies examine a possible consequence – namely, unwanted reactions to psychological research on wrongdoing – if laypeople perceive psychologists to have liberal tendencies. Study 1 replicated previous research by showing that when psychologists presented findings demonstrating situational (compared to dispositional or interactionist) influences on wrongdoing, they were perceived as assigning less responsibility to perpetrators. Further, this effect was stronger among participants who perceived psychologists to be politically liberal. Study 2 revealed that when psychologists were explicitly identified as liberals, participants believed they would downplay perpetrator responsibility across the board, but particularly when the responsibility attributional account was situational. Psychologists should be aware that laypeople’s perception of their political leanings could lead to discrepant construal of psychologists’ actual perspectives on human behavior.

摘要

如果外行人认为心理学家具有自由主义的倾向，则两项研究检验了可能的结果，即对不道德行为的心理学研究的不良反应。研究1重复了以前的研究，结果表明，当心理学家提出的研究结果表明情境（与性倾向或互动主义者相比）对不法行为的影响时，他们被认为对肇事者的责任较小。此外，这种影响在认为心理学家在政治上是自由派的参与者中更强。研究2显示，当心理学家被明确确定为自由主义者时，参与者认为他们会轻视犯罪者的全面责任，尤其是当责任归因情况属实时。