Motives for punishing powerful vs. prestigious offenders: The moderating role of group identity.

What is it about?

The present research was designed to investigate people's motives for punishing powerful vs. prestigious offenders. The primary conclusion is that people have different motives to punish powerful versus prestigious offenders. People are more likely to indicate instrumental (i.e. utilitarian; see Bentham, 1789) decision-making when faced with offenders who have access to resources, by seeking to incapacitate them. This is the case especially when offenders are ingroup rather than outgroup members. The evidence that people hold a preference for restorative punishing practices towards prestigious offenders is suggestive but not conclusive. We conclude that offender's status shapes people's incapacitative motives to punish them.

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