Who Is Held Responsible? Understanding the Attribution Process and Consequences by the General Public in Project Social Irresponsibility Events

Abstract

This study investigates how the general public attributes responsibility among organizations involved in project social irresponsibility events and how these attributions trigger moral outrage and protest. Drawing on attribution theory, the study develops a framework with two attribution subjects and manipulates event-related cues for each subject through vignette-based experiments. Results show that responsibility is unequally allocated, shaped by perceived locus of causality, controllability, and stability of two subjects, and in-group bias driven by social identification. Greater responsibility attributed to the project lead organization elicits stronger moral outrage and protest. This study contributes to project social responsibility and social risk management.