Asymmetries in Attributions of Blame and Praise, Intent, and Causality: Free Will, Responsibility, and the Side-effect Effect

Abstract

The Side-Effect Effect (SEE) is the phenomenon that negative side-effects elicit stronger attributions of intent and blame than intent and praise for positive side-effects. There are similar documented asymmetries showing stronger free will attributions to negative than to positive, and stronger associations between free will attributions and blame for negative outcomes than associations between free will attributions and praise for positive outcomes. Together, these are two well-known paradigms in experimental philosophy that have thus far mostly been studied separately. Given that they both examine similar domains regarding agency, intent, and responsibility, we aimed to integrate the two paradigms to examine possible joint effects and interactions. We used the classic SEE scenario with within and between designs, manipulated free will by contrasting deterministic versus indeterministic universes, and measured free will attributions. In two experiments (overall N = 1520), we found support for side-effect effects regarding attributions of intentionality and knowledge (Study 1: d = 0.58-1.77; Study 2: d = 0.61-1.75). We found a strong association between blame/praise and free will attributions, even when controlling for intent and knowledge. Finally, we found that when participants were asked to imagine a counterfactual and report praise or blame based on the experimental condition, blame was more strongly attributed to hypothetical harmful outcomes than praise to helpful outcomes. We found no consistent support for an interaction between the two paradigms, suggesting that they uniquely affect attributions.