The Relational Nature of Punishment: Responses to Close Versus Distant Others’ Moral Transgressions
Social Psychological and Personality Science
Published online on January 29, 2026
Abstract
Social Psychological and Personality Science, Ahead of Print.
How do people respond when a close other, as opposed to a distant other, commits a moral transgression against a third person? Across five preregistered experiments (totalN= 2,170), supplemented by pilot studies, we find that people navigate punishment ...
How do people respond when a close other, as opposed to a distant other, commits a moral transgression against a third person? Across five preregistered experiments (totalN= 2,170), supplemented by pilot studies, we find that people navigate punishment ...