Which Matters More: Intention or Outcome? The Asymmetry of Moral Blame and Moral Praise.

Abstract

This study investigated the asymmetrical effects of intentions and outcomes on moral blame and praise within scenarios involving harm and help. By manipulating self-other perspective differences and the severity of outcomes, it further explored their moderating roles in these asymmetrical effects. The key findings include the following: (1) Intention and outcome asymmetrically influenced moral blame and praise: moral blame prioritized intentions, whereas moral praise emphasized outcomes. (2) Self-other perspectives moderated the asymmetric effects of behavioural intentions and outcomes on moral blame but did not moderate the asymmetric effect on moral praise: from the perspective of others, blame tended to focus on intentions, while the self-perspective prioritized outcomes. (3) Outcome severity moderated the effect of behavioural intentions on moral blame and moral praise. Compared to severe outcomes, intention was a stronger predictor of blame and praise when the outcome was minor; however, this moderating effect was specifically observed for moral blame from others' perspectives and for moral praise from self-perspective.