AUTHOR=Schneider Teresa , Sauerland Melanie , Merckelbach Harald , Puschke Jens , Cohrs J. Christopher 

TITLE=Self-Reported Voluntary Blame-Taking: Kinship Before Friendship and No Effect of Incentives

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.621960

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2021.621960

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=<p>Inspired by theories of prosocial behavior, we tested the effect of relationship status and incentives on intended voluntary blame-taking in two experiments (Experiment 2 was pre-registered). Participants (<italic>N</italic><sub>E1</sub> = 211 and <italic>N</italic><sub>E2</sub> = 232) imagined a close family member, a close friend, or an acquaintance and read a scenario that described this person committing a minor traffic offense. The person offered either a monetary, social, or no incentive for taking the blame. Participants indicated their willingness to take the blame and reasons for and against blame-taking. Overall, a sizable proportion of participants indicated to be willing to take the blame (E<sub>1</sub>: 57.8%; E<sub>2</sub>: 34.9%). Blame-taking rates were higher for family members than close friends or acquaintances in both experiments, as expected. Unexpectedly, there was no difference between a close friend and an acquaintance in Experiment 2. Social incentives did not have an effect on voluntary blame-taking in either experiment. Neither did we find an interaction between relationship status and incentives. The results highlight the importance of kin relationships in the context of voluntary blame-taking.</p>