When do we punish people who don't?

We presented participants with cases in which an individual fails to punish a transgressor, either as a victim (second party) or as an observer (third party). Across studies, we consistently observed higher-order punishment of non-punishing observers. Higher-order punishment of non-punishing victims, however, was consistently weaker, and sometimes non-existent. These results demonstrate the selective application of higher-order punishment, provide a new perspective on the psychological mechanisms that support it, and provide some clues regarding its function. PMID: 31408816 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31408816?dopt=Abstract

Source: Cognition - August 9, 2019 Category: Neurology Authors: Martin JW, Jordan JJ, Rand DG, Cushman F Tags: Cognition Source Type: research