Culpable control and the psychology of blame - PubMed

Review

Culpable control and the psychology of blame

M D Alicke. Psychol Bull. 2000 Jul.

Abstract

A culpable control model is advanced to describe the conditions that encourage as well as mitigate blame and to assess the process by which blame and mitigation occur. The fundamental assumptions of the model are that evidence concerning harmful events is scrutinized for its contribution to personal control and spontaneously evaluated for its favorableness or unfavorableness. Spontaneous evaluations encourage a blame-validation mode of processing in which evidence concerning the event is reviewed in a manner that favors ascribing blame to the person or persons who evoke the most negative affect or whose behavior confirms unfavorable expectations. The author delineates the elements of perceived control and then discusses spontaneous evaluation influences on control and blame assessments. The blame-validation process is described next. Finally, the culpable control model is compared with extant theories of blame and responsibility and its basic tenets summarized.

Similar articles

• Culpable control and counterfactual reasoning in the psychology of blame.

  Alicke MD, Buckingham J, Zell E, Davis T. Alicke MD, et al. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2008 Oct;34(10):1371-81. doi: 10.1177/0146167208321594. Epub 2008 Jul 21. Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2008. PMID: 18644856

• Defensive externality and blame projection following failure.

  Hochreich DJ. Hochreich DJ. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1975 Sep;32(3):540-6. doi: 10.1037/h0077102. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1975. PMID: 1177087

• Judgments of cause and blame: the effects of intentionality and foreseeability.

  Lagnado DA, Channon S. Lagnado DA, et al. Cognition. 2008 Sep;108(3):754-70. doi: 10.1016/j.cognition.2008.06.009. Epub 2008 Aug 15. Cognition. 2008. PMID: 18706537

• Finding "meaning" in psychology: a lay theories approach to self-regulation, social perception, and social development.

  Molden DC, Dweck CS. Molden DC, et al. Am Psychol. 2006 Apr;61(3):192-203. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.61.3.192. Am Psychol. 2006. PMID: 16594836 Review.

• Personality reflected in a coherent idiosyncratic interplay of intra- and interpersonal self-regulatory processes.

  Morf CC. Morf CC. J Pers. 2006 Dec;74(6):1527-56. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2006.00419.x. J Pers. 2006. PMID: 17083657 Review.

Cited by

• Restorative Just Culture: An Exploration of the Enabling Conditions for Successful Implementation.

  Boskeljon-Horst L, Steinmetz V, Dekker S. Boskeljon-Horst L, et al. Healthcare (Basel). 2024 Oct 15;12(20):2046. doi: 10.3390/healthcare12202046. Healthcare (Basel). 2024. PMID: 39451461 Free PMC article.

• Discursive Strategies of Blaming: The Language of Judgment and Political Protest Online.

  Hansson S, Page R, Fuoli M. Hansson S, et al. Soc Media Soc. 2022 Nov 21;8(4):20563051221138753. doi: 10.1177/20563051221138753. eCollection 2022 Oct-Dec. Soc Media Soc. 2022. PMID: 36447997 Free PMC article.

• Downstream Consequences of Post-Transgression Responses: A Motive-Attribution Framework.

  Gollwitzer M, Okimoto TG. Gollwitzer M, et al. Pers Soc Psychol Rev. 2021 Nov;25(4):275-294. doi: 10.1177/10888683211007021. Epub 2021 Apr 22. Pers Soc Psychol Rev. 2021. PMID: 33884939 Free PMC article.

• Behavioral Genetics and Attributions of Moral Responsibility.

  Tabb K, Lebowitz MS, Appelbaum PS. Tabb K, et al. Behav Genet. 2019 Mar;49(2):128-135. doi: 10.1007/s10519-018-9916-0. Epub 2018 Aug 9. Behav Genet. 2019. PMID: 30094665 Free PMC article.

• Accidental outcomes guide punishment in a "trembling hand" game.

  Cushman F, Dreber A, Wang Y, Costa J. Cushman F, et al. PLoS One. 2009 Aug 26;4(8):e6699. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006699. PLoS One. 2009. PMID: 19707578 Free PMC article.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

• Full Text Sources

  • American Psychological Association
  • Ovid Technologies, Inc.

• Research Materials

  • NCI CPTC Antibody Characterization Program