Inferences about character and motive influence intentionality attributions about side effects

Department

Psychological Sciences

Document Type

Article

Publication Source

British Journal of Social Psychology

Publication Date

2012-12-01

Volume

51

Issue

4

First Page

661

Last Page

673

Abstract

In two studies, we predicted and found that inferences about motive and character influence intentionality attributions about foreseeable consequences of action (i.e., side effects). First, we show that inferences about intentionality are greater for good side effects than bad side effects when a target person's character is described positively. In Study 2, we manipulated information about a target person and found that inferences about intentionality were greater when side effects were consistent with a target person's character and motives. Overall, our data cast doubt on the generality of the side-effect effect. We discuss our findings and their implications for future research on intentionality and social perception. © 2011 The British Psychological Society.

DOI

10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02031.x

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.2011.02031.x

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