Roles, Responsibility, and Accounts Across Cultures

Abstract

In research on the attribution of responsibility, increasing attention is being paid to the fact that responsibility judgments are social negotiations, not just the cognitions of isolated individuals. In this negotiating process, accow~cs, including excuses and justifications, may diminish or even eliminate responsibility for wrongdoing. This paper presents a perspective on responsibility attribution and reviews recent literature on accounts. It emphasizes the way in which aspects of social roles-specifically, the solidarity or closeness of the parties and their hierarchical or equal status-may affect the choice and effectiveness of accounts. A second theme is the way in which the impact of various accounts may vary across cultures: In this case, the United States vs. Japan. We pay special attention to differences between roles and between cultures in use of three accounts: denial (e.g. "I didn't do it"); consensus (e.g. "everyone does it"); and apology. The paper draws on pilot research carried out in the U.S. and Japan. Results showed that solidarity, hierarchy, and culture each affected the use of accounts, but sometimes in complex ways. We conclude by offering speculations and suggestions for future cross-cultural research into the social psychology of attributing responsibility and offering acwunts.Dans les recherches sur I'attribution de responsabilitt, une attention accrue est portte sur le fait que les jugements de responsabilitt sont des nkgociations sociales et non seulement les cognitions d'individus isolts. Dans ce processus de ntgociation, les explications, incluant les excuses et justifications, peuvent diminuer ou meme Climiner la responsabilitt pour de mauvaises actions. Cette ttude prtsente une perspective sur l'attribution de responsabilitt et recense les ecrits rtcents sur les explications. Elle met I'accent sur la faGon suivant laquelle certains aspects des rdes sociaux-et plus spkcifiquement, la solidaritt ou le rapprochement des parties, ainsi que leur statut hikrarchique ou kgalitakepeuvent affecter le choix et I'efficacite des explications. Un second theme est la faeon suivant laquelle I'impact de diverses explications peut varier en fonction des cultures: dans le cas prtsent, les Etats-Unis ou le Japon. Une attention spkciale est portee aux difftrences entre les r6les et entre les cultures dans Requests for reprints should be sent to V.

The Role of Perceived Injustice in the Experience of Chronic Pain and Disability: Scale Development and Validation

“…The 12th century philosopher, Anselm de Canterbury discussed injustice as a state of mind that demanded retribution; where injustice could only be resolved when the order of retribution was equal to that of experienced loss [45]. Issues related to the defining features of justice have been debated in philosophy, and mechanisms for the resolve of injustice are represented at varying levels of social policy [12,46]. In many industrialized societies, 'retribution' for losses incurred due to injury has taken the form of compensation or litigation [17].…”

“…Perceptions of injustice can ensue from acts or conditions that might cause someone to suffer hardship or loss undeservedly [12,13]. Research has shown that perceptions of injustice are likely to arise when an individual is exposed to situations that are characterized by a violation of basic human rights, transgression of status or rank, or challenge to equity norms and just world beliefs [14][15][16].…”

Perceived Injustice is Associated with Heightened Pain Behavior and Disability in Individuals with Whiplash Injuries

“…Perceptions of injustice can arise under conditions where someone suffers hardship or loss undeservedly (Hamilton and Hagiwara 1992;Lind and Tyler 1988). Research has shown that perceptions of injustice are likely to arise when an individual is exposed to situations that are characterized by a violation of basic human rights, transgression of status or rank, or challenge to equity norms and just world beliefs (Fetchenhauer and Huang 2004;Hafer and Begue 2005;Mohiyeddini and Schmitt 1997).…”

Italian and French teachers faced with pupil’s Academic Failure: The “Norm of Effort”

“…Since Joan Miller (1984) first demonstrated the importance of culture in causal attribution, numerous studies within diverse attributional domains and using different methodologies have been conducted to examine culture variations and universality in the causal attribution process (e.g., Choi, Nisbett, & Norenzayan, 1999;Carpenter, 2000;Kivilu & Rogers, 1998;Norenzayan, Choi, & Nisbett, 2002), and regarding the theme of responsibility (e.g., Hamilton & Hagiwara, 1992;Zhang, Guan, Zhou, & Lu, 2003). The present research attempted to explore if Weiner's theory is a general, pan-cultural model which fits teachers who belong to different cultures and work in different school systems or if it is a theory which reflects a culturally-specific sociocognitive process (Duda & Allison, 1989).…”