The happy victimizer phenomenon: Not found here

Abstract

Children’s attribution of emotions to a moral transgressor is an important research topic in the psychology of moral and emotional development. This is especially because of the so-called Happy Victimizer Phenomenon (HVP) where younger children attribute positive emotions to a moral transgressor described in a story. In the two studies that we have conducted (children aged 5, 7 and 9, 20 of each age; 10 of each age in the second study) we have tested the possible influence of the fear of sanctions and the type of transgression (stealing and inflicting body injuries) on the attribution of emotions. Children were presented with stories that described transgressions and they were asked to answer how the transgressor felt. The fear of sanctions did not make a significant difference in attribution but the type of transgression did - more negative emotions were attributed for inflicting body injuries than for stealing. Positive emotions were explained with situational-instrumental explanations in 84% of cases while negative emotions were explained with moral explanations in 63,5%. Girls attributed more positive emotions (61%) than boys (39%). However, our main finding was that, for the aforementioned age groups, we did not find the HVP effect although it has regularly been registered in foreign studies. This finding denies the generalizability of the phenomenon and points to the significance of disciplining styles and, even more so, culture for children’s attribution of emotions to moral transgressors.

Keywords

• type of transgression
• attribution of emotions
• fear of sanctions
• disciplining styles
• culture