Attributions of Responsibility for a Chance Event as a Function of Sex and Physical Attractiveness of Target Individual

Abstract

To investigate how attributions of responsibility would be affected by the outcome of a chance event, and the sex and physical attractiveness of individuals to whom that event had occurred, subjects rated the responsibility of an individual described in a story in which a chance event had either non-negative or negative outcome. This person was either male or female and was either physically attractive or physically unattractive. Results supported the hypotheses that attractive individuals would be attributed greater responsibility for chance events with non-negative outcomes and unattractive individuals would be attributed greater responsibility for chance events with negative outcomes. The hypothesis, that the relationship between the outcome of the event and the attractiveness of the individual in regards to attributions of responsibility would be considerably stronger for females than for males, was not clearly supported.