Should Henrietta be Punished or Rewarded? The Effects of Name Desirability on Responsibility Attribution and Sanction Assignment

Abstract

Abstract This study investigated effects of first name desirability on both attribution of responsibility (AR) and sanction assignment (AS) to assess the generality of name bias effects on the attribution process. Subjects (n = 112) were equally divided by sex, and randomly assigned to four groups which received stimulus stories with all male or all female actors. The stories represented three of Heider's levels with high magnitude positive or negative outcomes produced by male or female actors with desirable or undesirable first names. Analysis of AR ratings revealed significant main effects for both Level (L) and Outcome (0) as well as a significant L x 0 interaction; no significant main effects or interactions involving subjects’ sex or actor's sex (A) or name (Na) were revealed, although there was an Lx Na trend (p = .07). For AS, significant main effects were found for L, 0, and name desirability (Na). Significant two-(S × A, Lx 0), and (L × Na) and three-way (L × 0 × Sand Lx 0 × Na) interactions were found. Evidence of the effect of name desirability on AS is provided by the significant main effects for name desirability and by the L × Na interaction and by the L × 0 × Na interaction. Punishment ratings exceeded reward ratings, and significantly less reward was assigned to male actors with undesirable names and significantly less punishment was assigned to female actors with undesirable names, implying that perhaps a cognitive factor is involved, generating a type of gender appropriate leniency effect. These data also indicate that the impact of name desirability is limited primarily to subjective judgmental areas and can be weakened by focusing upon objective features of causal evidence and target's behavior.