Blame Attribution for White-Collar Crime in France and the US: Comparative Profiles of Public Attitudes

Abstract

This study profiles and compares US and French subjects based on their attribution of blame for white-collar crime. 1,068 respondents (536 from the US and 532 from France) answered an online survey that measured their level of knowledge about white-collar crime, sociodemographic characteristics, and blame attribution styles. Cluster analysis was used to identify distinct and homogeneous categories of participants. More groups emerged in the US sample, suggesting more complex attitudes toward white-collar crime among American citizens. Subjects who were more knowledgeable tended to endorse a dispositional attribution style, and significant sociodemographic variation was found in blame attribution. This study confirms the importance of knowledge about white-collar crime in shaping overall attitudes toward it and potentially influencing punishment orientations.

Keywords

white collar crime public knowledge blame attribution

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