Assignment of Responsibility for Deaths Perceived as Unintentioned, Subintentioned, or Intentioned (Micro RA 1063 P35 1971)

The purpose of this study was to determine how people assign responsibility for death as a function of reported deaths and the intent of the victim. Subjects were divided into nine equal groups, each receiving a different combination of treatment levels. Treatments consisted of tape recordings of a student death as one of accident, negligence, or suicide. Results indicated that people assign more responsibility to persons close to the victim.