Chance as a Scapegoat: Seeking Uncertainty to Avoid Responsibility and Blame

Abstract

Riskier for me or for others? This question has been asked by researchers in different fields, which has generated kinds of research accounts and results. In this study, we extended previous research by studying the self-other uncertainty preference under ambiguous situations (unknown probabilities). Through five experiments we verified our main hypothesis that individuals may want to lessen their responsibility by seeking uncertainty when making decisions for others. Our results provide a behavioral explanation that extrinsic others-concern motivation (i.e., blame avoidance) instead of intrinsic others-concern motivation (i.e., self-blame aversion) and regulatory focus is the underlying process of self-other decision-making under ambiguity.