Determinants of Punitive Responses To Socially Proscribed Behavior: Seriousness, Attribution of Responsibility, and Status of the Offender

This study investigates the severity of the sanctions group members recommend in judging socially proscribed acts in terms of the seriousness of the act, attribution of responsibility, and the status of the offender. The data were not totally consistent with the hypothesized relationships. As anticipated, moderately serious acts were sanc tioned less severely than those judged to be seriously deviant. Moreover, the greater the attribution of personal responsibility for the acts, the more severe the sanctions. Status, however, failed to reveal a mediating influence in the judgmental process under investigation. This appears to be the result of a loss ofstatus suffered by the high-status offender.