不僅報仇而且不公平還能釋放出懲罰的衝動
每個人都想要一塊餡餅。
Westend61通過Getty Images

Imagine you and your friend are at a party and someone orders pizza.假設您和您的朋友參加聚會,有人在訂購披薩。 You're starving.餓死了You put a couple of slices on your plate and sit down at the table.您在盤子上放了幾片,坐在桌旁。 Before you start eating, you excuse yourself to wash your hands.在開始吃飯之前,請原諒自己洗手。

On your way back from the bathroom, you look across the room just in time to see your friend grab one of the slices off your plate and start to eat it.在從浴室回來的路上,您及時地看向整個房間,看到您的朋友從盤子裡拿出一塊來開始吃。 This would probably make you mad, right?這可能會讓你生氣,對嗎? You might even feel an urge to get back at them somehow.您甚至可能會想辦法以某種方式重新找回他們。

Now imagine a slightly different scenario.現在想像一個稍微不同的場景。 You and your friend are at the same party but before you have the chance to get pizza, you excuse yourself to wash your hands.您和您的朋友在同一個聚會上,但是在您有機會獲得披薩之前,請原諒自己洗手。 While you're gone, the pizza is served and your friend grabs a couple slices for themself but only one for you.當您不在家時,披薩便送達了,您的朋友為自己準備了幾片,但只有一份給您。

This would also probably make you kind of mad, right?這也可能會使您發瘋,對嗎? But why?但為什麼? This time your friend didn't actually steal your pizza, so why does it feel like they did something wrong?這次您的朋友實際上沒有偷您的披薩,那為什麼感覺他們做錯了什麼呢?


內在自我訂閱圖形


答案是,不公正本身就令人不安-令人不安的程度足以驅使人們懲罰那些從不公平結果中受益的人。

My 同事 I 最近完成了 心理實驗 that supports this concept.支持這個概念。 The idea that unfairness alone can motivate punishment runs counter to a lot of existing research that suggests單靠不公平就可以激發懲罰的觀點與許多現有研究相反 懲罰 主要由 復仇.

Why does this matter?為什麼這麼重要? Because understanding what motivates punishment can help shed light on the functions it serves in human societies – and possibly even why punishment evolved in the first place.因為了解激勵的動機可以幫助我們弄清懲罰在人類社會中所發揮的作用-甚至可能解釋了為什麼懲罰首先產生。

威懾水平

以復仇為基礎的懲罰可能起著重要的威懾作用-鼓勵傷害您的人將來表現更好。

另一方面,基於不平等的懲罰可能會起到重要的拉平作用-確保您的狀況不比周圍的人差,有可能給您帶來競爭優勢-或至少防止其他人獲得太大的提升。

(不僅報仇而且不公平如何釋放懲罰的衝動)人類多年來一直關注正義。 georgeclerk / E +通過Getty Images

In our study, we wanted to understand what drives people to punish others.在我們的研究中,我們想了解是什麼促使人們懲罰他人。 Is it revenge, inequity or both?是複仇,不公平還是兩者兼而有之?

We paired up thousands of participants who had never met in an online economic game in which they made decisions about real money.我們將成千上萬的從未參加過在線經濟遊戲的參與者配對,他們在遊戲中做出有關真錢的決定。 In one condition, just as in the first pizza example, one player stole money from another player.在一個條件下,就像第一個披薩示例一樣,一個玩家從另一個玩家那裡偷了錢。 In some cases, depending on the amount of money the victim started with, stealing meant the thief ended up with more money than the victim.在某些情況下,根據受害者開始的錢數,偷竊意味著小偷最終比受害者得到更多的錢。

We expected this theft would motivate victims to punish and we were right: People do not like being stolen from and would pay to punish thieves, reducing their income in the game.我們希望這種盜竊行為會激勵受害者進行懲罰,我們是對的:人們不喜歡被盜並願意為懲罰盜賊而付出代價,從而減少了他們在遊戲中的收入。 This evidence supports the idea that punishment is motivated by revenge.這一證據支持了以復仇為動機進行懲罰的觀點。

However, this scenario didn't tell us whether people also punish in response to unfairness.但是,這種情況並沒有告訴我們人們是否還會因不公平而受到懲罰。 To test this possibility, we designed a similar situation – one that resulted in one player ending up with more than the other – but, in this case, no theft occurred.為了測試這種可能性,我們設計了一種類似的情況-一種導致一名玩家比另一名玩家更多的結果-但在這種情況下,沒有發生盜竊。 Rather, like the second pizza example, one player had a chance to gift money to the other player, at no cost to themself, or the money disappeared.而是像第二個披薩示例一樣,一個玩家有機會免費向另一位玩家贈送金錢,否則他們就消失了。

In these cases, a player who refused to give money to the other would sometimes end up with more money – the unfair outcome we were curious about.在這種情況下,一個拒絕給對方錢的玩家有時會獲得更多的錢–我們好奇的不公平結果。 Interestingly, we found people were more likely to punish when they had less money than the other player – even when no theft had occurred.有趣的是,我們發現人們在錢財比其他玩家少的情況下更有可能受到懲罰-即使沒有發生盜竊。

這向我們表明,即使不存在盜竊等直接違法行為,僅憑不公平就足以激發懲罰。

多用途行為

Our new findings are exciting because they suggest that people have different motivations to punish others.我們的新發現令人興奮,因為它們表明人們懲罰他人的動機不同。 Sure, people are motivated to seek revenge on those who have stolen from them, but they are also willing to punish in cases where they simply have less than others.當然,人們有動機去報復那些從他們那裡偷來的人,但是他們也願意對那些比別人少的人進行懲罰。

This finding suggests punishment likely evolved for different uses – deterrence as well as leveling the playing field – showcasing how one behavior can serve different functions.這一發現表明,懲罰可能因不同的用途而發生了變化–威懾以及公平競爭–展示了一種行為如何能夠發揮不同的作用。 That punishment can serve such different functions implies that both deterrence and resource leveling might have increased the genetic fitness of our ancestors.懲罰可以起到不同的作用,這意味著威懾力和資源平衡可能增加了我們祖先的遺傳適應能力。 In other words, as humans evolved, people who punished to deter others or level the playing field passed on more of their genes than those who punished less.換句話說,隨著人類的發展,那些懲罰以嚇阻他人或平整運動場的人傳遞的基因要多於那些懲罰較少的人。

So next time you're deciding whether to take more than your fair share of pizza, maybe think twice.因此,下一次您要決定是否要多吃一些比薩餅,也許要三思而後行。 Otherwise you might unwittingly become the target of a hungry punisher looking for justice.否則,您可能會無意間成為飢餓的懲罰者尋求正義的目標。談話

關於作者

Paul Deutchman,心理學博士研究生, 波士頓學院(Boston College)

本文重新發表 談話 根據知識共享許可。 閱讀 原創文章.