Historical Blame and Collective Responsibility

Case study

Inside this project.

A concise view of the question, design, my role, method, contribution, and scope.

Question

When do people hold present-day groups responsible for harms committed by earlier members of those groups?

Data / design

Experimental designs comparing past harm, perceived group continuity, present benefit or harm, and blame judgments.

My role

Coauthor.

Method / approach

Experimental design and statistical analysis used to separate moral judgment from simple historical association.

What it contributes

Research on psychological antecedents of historical blame, including perceived connectedness between past and present groups, current benefit or harm, and unresolved obligations.

Venue / status

Published, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2024. Open paper

Scope

The project examines psychological antecedents of historical blame; it does not make broader historical or normative claims.