Objectives: Test the diffusion of responsibility hypothesis by examining associations between the presence, number, and role of co-offenders and adolescents’ perceived responsibility for criminal behavior. Methods: The study uses data from the Crossroads Study, a longitudinal study of 1,216 male adolescents who were arrested for the first time. A series of generalized ordered logistic regressions assess how different features of the group context are linked to adolescent offending. Models first examine the relationship between the presence of a co-offender and adolescents’ perceptions of responsibility for their crime, followed by co-offending specific models examining the impact of the number of co-offenders and role in the co-offense. Results: Adolescents’ perceptions of responsibility for criminal behavior decrease when they co-offend, as the size of the group increases, and when crime is not solely their idea. Conclusions: The study's findings are consistent with the diffusion of responsibility hypothesis, which highlights an important psychological experience tied to the group context. The findings contribute to our understanding of adolescent risky decision-making and shed insight into how the group context may facilitate criminal behavior.

目标：通过检查共同犯罪者的存在、数量和角色与青少年对犯罪行为的感知责任之间的关联来检验责任扩散假设。方法：该研究使用来自 Crossroads Study 的数据，这是一项对 1,216 名首次被捕的男性青少年的纵向研究。一系列广义有序逻辑回归评估了群体环境的不同特征如何与青少年犯罪相关联。模型首先检查共同犯罪者的存在与青少年对其犯罪责任的看法之间的关系，然后共同犯罪的特定模型检查共同犯罪者数量和在共同犯罪中的作用的影响。结果：当青少年共同犯罪时，随着群体规模的增加，以及当犯罪不仅仅是他们的想法时，他们对犯罪行为的责任感会降低。结论：该研究的发现与责任扩散假设一致，该假设强调了与群体环境相关的重要心理体验。这些发现有助于我们理解青少年风险决策，并深入了解群体环境如何促进犯罪行为。