Fact Variation: A Study of Responsibility versus Fault

Abstract

This study, a replication of the 1982 experiment done by Pallak and Davies, was done to distinguish between the processes underlying attribution of responsibility and assignment of fault to a victim. Undergraduate women read one of four descriptions of a rape committed by an assailant who had either followed the victim previously (assault premeditated) or had not followed the victim (assault not premeditated), against the victim who had either taken precautionary measures (precaution attempted) or had not taken such precautions (no precautions attempted). In contrast to the original study, observers assigned equal measures of fault to the manipulations of precautions attempted and precautions not attempted. In addition, there was no support for the original finding that maximum responsibility was attributed to the victim who failed to take precautions when the assailant's behavior indicated that his assault was not premeditated.