ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3197-7933; Twardawski, Mathias
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0543-277X; Strelan, Peter
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3796-1935 and Gollwitzer, Mario
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4310-4793
(2022):
Victims need more than power: Empowerment and moral change independently predict victims’ satisfaction and willingness to reconcile.
In: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 123, No. 3: pp. 518-536
Abstract
Punishing offenders for their misdeeds can restore a sense of justice achieved (i.e., justice-related satisfaction) among victims and increase their willingness to reconcile, especially if offenders signal that they understand why punishment has been inflicted on them. In this article, we theoretically disentangle and empirically test two explanations for this effect. One possible interpretation for this effect is that offender feedback empowers the victim and that empowerment is the crucial prerequisite for reconciliation. An alternative interpretation is that offender feedback benefits the victim because it suggests that the punishment had an educational effect and initiated a positive “moral change” in the offender. Six studies—four scenario and two autobiographic recall studies (combined N = 2,134)—suggest that the positive effects of offender feedback on victims’ justice-related satisfaction and willingness to reconcile cannot be reduced to empowerment. Empowerment and moral change rather constitute two independent mechanisms explaining when and why punishment facilitates the posttransgression process. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings (e.g., for restorative justice procedures).
Item Type: | Journal article |
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Faculties: | Psychology and Education Science > Department Psychology > Social Psychology |
Subjects: | 100 Philosophy and Psychology > 150 Psychology |
ISSN: | 0022-3514 |
Language: | English |
Item ID: | 108274 |
Date Deposited: | 01. Dec 2023, 10:55 |
Last Modified: | 01. Dec 2023, 10:55 |