Citation

Reeder GD, Kumar S, Hesson-McInnis MS, Trafimow D. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 2002; 83(4): 789-803.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Illinois State University, Normal 61790, USA. gdreeder@ilstu.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, American Psychological Association)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

12374435

Abstract

The research investigated perceivers' inferences about the morality of target persons who engaged in aggressive behavior. Across several experiments, inferences about the morality of an aggressor were based more on the perceived motives of the target than on the presence of facilitating situational forces. For example, when a target's aggression was facilitated by personal rewards for aggression (instrumental aggression), perceivers inferred more negative motives and attributed lower morality to the target than when the target's aggression was facilitated by situational provocation (reactive aggression). The results suggest that perceived motives play an important role in dispositional inference and pose a problem for models that focus primarily on perceived causality, assumptions about base rates (consensus), or diagnosticity.

Language: en