Study punish motivated by discrimination

Disadvantage of main motivation for penalties

07/18/2012

People who feel wronged punish offenses particularly hard. Researchers at University College London (UK) and Harvard University in Cambridge (USA) have investigated whether punishments are more likely „injustice aversions“ or the desire for „reciprocity“ (as you me, so I am you) motivated. In the computer experiment, they found out that the majority of the deceived only impose a penalty if the deceiver ends up better off than the victim. Crime á la Robin Hood therefore remained impunity.

The researchers around Nichola Raihani from the Institute for Genetic Evolution and Environment at University College London have analyzed in their study, which factors after a fraud determine the height of the punishment desired by the victim. So far it was unclear whether the desire for retribution - according to the motto „eye to eye“ - Here is the main motivation for punishment or the sense of justice or the rejection of injustice. Now Raihani and colleagues report in the trade magazine „Biology Letters“, That the injustice aversion in punishment has a much greater weight than the desire for reciprocity.

Punishment motivated by injustice
As part of their study, the researchers had 560 patients undergo a computer experiment. The subjects, aged 16-69 (mean age 29 years), were divided into two groups and then completed a computer simulation in which one group had the opportunity to steal the other money and the second group could set different levels of punishment for it , The scientists found that the dupes usually tolerated the offenses, if the thieves were in the end no better than they themselves. However, the thieves had the fraud after more money than the deceived, the latter decided in the majority of punishment, write Nichola Raihani in the article „Human punishment is motivated by inequality aversion, not by the desire for reciprocity“.

Balancing the profits of fraudsters and their own losses in punishment
Apparently, the dupes compare their own losses with the profit of the thief before they decide on a punishment, so the statement of the scientists. However, this raises the question to Nichola Raihani and colleagues, „why people engage in a cognitively complex task of monitoring their own profits compared to those of the interaction partners, rather than simply monitoring their own losses and taking into account the punishment of the fraudsters.“ According to the researchers, their own loss is most likely the basis of punishment for the few species that also use the punishment of their peers. The cognitive skills are simply not enough to evaluate not only your own loss but also the profit of the conspecific.

Just penalties promote cooperative behavior
People, on the other hand, weigh their own losses and the fraudulent profits of the fraudster when deciding on a punishment. The reason for this complex behavior has not yet been conclusively clarified. „One possibility is that the punishment only promotes cooperative behavior if the punishment is considered fair“, so Nichola Raihani. In addition, disproportionate, overdone punishment can also damage cooperative behavior, triggering a desire for retaliation among those affected, the researchers suspect. So far, however, there are no scientific studies available, so this „an interesting opportunity for future investigations“, write Nichola Raihani and colleagues. (Fp)

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