COMPARISON OF PREFERENCES OF MONOPOLISTIC AND NON-MONOPOLISTIC INDIVIDUALS TOWARD JUSTIFIED PUNISHERS

Abstract

Recently, considerable attention has been paid to the reputational basis of punishment. The current study examines two issues: the justifiability of punishments and individual differences among observers. Participants evaluated the traits and likability of justified and unjustified punishers and were classified into two groups by the dictator game: monopolists and non-monopolists. As predicted, justified punishers were considered as having favorable traits and unjustified punishers were not. Additionally, we found that non-monopolistic participants regarded justified punishers as good partners, while monopolistic participants did not. Multiple regression analysis showed that this pattern cannot be explained by similarities between punishers and participants. It is likely that monopolists would avoid any punishers, due to the higher possibility that they would be targeted by punishers.