Collective blame toward groups tracks perceived interdependence with wrongdoers, via commission and omission inferences.

Evidence

In our analysis of people’s reactions to the event (Lickel et al., 2001; 2003) we found that judgments of collective responsibility for the killings were ordered and predictable. First, when we examined people’s judgments of a wide array of groups (ranging from the parents of the killers to members of the “Goth” music scene with whom the killers were associated) that had been mentioned in media reports or editorials as being somehow to blame for the event, we found that the degree of blame assigned to the group was highly related to people’s perceptions of interdependence between the group and the killers. Thus, it was those groups that interacted and communicated the most with the killers (such as their family and friends) who were blamed most for the killers’ actions. Second, we found that people explained these events with particular sorts of inferences about why the other members of the group should be blamed. These inferences were that members of the group may have encouraged or facilitated the actions of the killers (an inference of commission) or that they failed to preventtheevent(aninferenceofomission).Theseinferenceswerestrongly predictedbyperceptionsofinterdependenceandinturnstronglypredicted judgments of collective blame. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 356

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the commission (facilitation) and omission (failure to prevent) inference distinction underpinning collective blame.
• XREF: connects to: Perceiving interdependence with a wrongdoer triggers control appraisals that evoke guilt. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 336; Perceived group tightness drives collective blame for members’ misdeeds — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 268; Diffusion of blame across many actors erases individual accountability for collective harm — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 1556 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Perceived entitativity makes outsiders blame whole groups for one member’s transgression #expands (0.85) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 270
• Perceived group tightness drives collective blame for members’ misdeeds #expands (0.82) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 268
• Perceiving a group’s wrongdoing as situationally justifiable blocks collective guilt #qualifies (0.75) — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 297
• Threat amplifies attribution biases that exonerate ingroups and damn outgroups #expands (0.74) — Walter G. Stephan, Oscar Ybarra, Kimberly Rios Morrison, Intergroup Threat Theory, 358
• Contributions carry implicit fairness judgments that trigger blame and counter-blame. #expands (0.73) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 191
• Diffusion of blame across many actors erases individual accountability for collective harm #complicates (0.72) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1556