Ire and punishment: Incidental anger and costly punishment in children, adolescents, and adults

Children endorse deterrence motivations for third-party punishment but derive higher enjoyment from compensating victims

“…Regarding the emotional antecedents of punishment, self-reported anger after witnessing inequity has been shown to mediate the link between transgression severity and costly punishment in British adults but not in children and adolescents (Gummerum et al, 2020). Moreover, by experimentally manipulating anger (via an autobiographical recall procedure), it was possible to demonstrate that anger has a causal role on punishment severity of inequity in British adults and adolescents but not in children (Gummerum et al, 2022). Regarding the emotional consequences of punishment, 5-to 7-year-old US children who meted out punishment reported higher levels of sadness, and lower levels of happiness and excitement than their peers who did not punish (see Supplemental Material in Marshall et al, 2021).…”

When growth mindset backfires: The effect of the perceived malleability of groups and utilitarian motives on support for collective punishment

“…Furthermore, belonging to a specific group can heighten individuals’ sensitivity to transgressions against their group and increase their motivation to seek punishment. This heightened sensitivity is due to the increased personal relevance of such transgressions, which is related to social justice judgments (Ham & van den Bos, 2008) and the desire for punishment (Gummerum et al., 2022). Given that intergroup transgressions can have significant consequences, particularly for individuals implicated, it is reasonable to expect that those involved through group affiliation would be more willing to support punishment measures.…”

Group membership and adolescents’ third-party punishment: a moderated chain mediation model

“…The importance of TPP has attracted attention in many disciplines due to its role in promoting group cooperation and maintaining social order ( Krueger and Hoffman, 2016 ; Marshall and McAuliffe, 2022 ). To understand the origin and development of third-party’ fairness consideration, several studies have examined the TPP of children at different developmental stages ( Gummerum and Chu, 2014 ; McAuliffe et al, 2015 ; Gummerum et al, 2016 , 2020 , 2022 ; Lee and Warneken, 2022 ). Six-year-old children begin to exhibit costly TPP ( McAuliffe et al, 2015 ; Riedl et al, 2015 ; Salali et al, 2015 ), and the punishment pattern fully develops until 13–14 years of age ( Bašić et al, 2020 ) and has a certain cross-cultural stability ( House et al, 2020 ).…”

“…Six-year-old children begin to exhibit costly TPP ( McAuliffe et al, 2015 ; Riedl et al, 2015 ; Salali et al, 2015 ), and the punishment pattern fully develops until 13–14 years of age ( Bašić et al, 2020 ) and has a certain cross-cultural stability ( House et al, 2020 ). However, to date, most related studies have examined children and adults as third-party punishers, and few studies have examined adolescents ( Gummerum et al, 2020 , 2022 ). Adolescence, defined as the period from 10 to 24 years of age ( Sawyer et al, 2018 ), is characterized by heightened affective and social sensitivity ( Towner et al, 2023 ).…”

“…Self-reported anger has been suggested as a possible motivation for TPP in some studies ( Fehr and Fischbacher, 2004 ; Gummerum et al, 2016 ) and could mediate the association between unfair offers and TPP in adults ( Gummerum et al, 2020 ). Additionally, the harshness of TPP increased significantly when anger was induced but decreased when anger was inhibited ( Gummerum et al, 2022 ). More importantly, the experience of anger caused by injustice differs depending on the peer group to which one belongs.…”