The effect of situational demands on judgments of freedom and responsibility

Main Article Content

S. Mark Pancer
Cite this article:  Pancer, S. (1977). The effect of situational demands on judgments of freedom and responsibility. Social Behavior and Personality: An international journal, 5(1), 41-48.


Abstract
Full Text
References
Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
Author Contact

The present study was designed to determine the effects of situational constraints and personality information in inferring freedom and responsibility. Subjects received information about a target individual's personality (the target was described as either competitive or neutral), and his competitive behavior in a situation was either facilitated, inhibited, or was neutral with respect to competition. Least freedom was attributed to an actor in the facilitative and inhibitory situations; greatest freedom in the neutral situation. Personality information did not have significant effects on perceived freedom. In addition, the amount of responsibility attributed to the target person for his actions was significantly correlated with the freedom attributed to him. These results suggest that the degree to which situational pressures are present during the commission of an act can affect judgments of the actor's freedom in performing the act.
Please login and/or purchase the PDF to view the full article.
Please login and/or purchase the PDF to view the full article.
Please login and/or purchase the PDF to view the full article.
Please login and/or purchase the PDF to view the full article.
Please login and/or purchase the PDF to view the full article.

Article Details

© 1977 Scientific Journal Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.