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Reporting and Nonreporting of Observed Crimes: Moral Judgments of the Act and Actor 1
Author(s) -
Himmelfarb Samuel
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1980.tb00693.x
Subject(s) - seriousness , morality , psychology , attribution , moral standards , social psychology , action (physics) , criminology , law , political science , physics , quantum mechanics
In two studies, subjects judged the morality of reporting and failing to report serious and nonserious crimes. Subjects also judged the general moral level and the likability of reporters and nonreporters. In accordance with predictions, the seriousness of the crime and whether it was reported differentially affected the judgments. Reporting a crime was seen as a more morally right action than fading to report it, and this difference increased with the severity of the crime. Reporters of nonserious crimes were perceived as the most moral, while non‐reporters of serious crimes were seen as the least moral individuals relative to the other conditions. There were indications in the data that for certain nonserious crimes reporters were less liked than nonreporters. The results are discussed in terms of attribution theory and the effects of perceived standards for reporting crimes and other rule infractions as these standards vary with the seriousness of the act.