Desiring to punish leaders: A new test of the model of people as intuitive prosecutors

Abstract

When a national leader is accused of impropriety, people often desire his/her ouster. To explain such desire for punishment, the authors tested two predictions of the model of intuitive prosecutors. While continuing in the position after the allegation activates the prosecutorial mind among people, resigning from the position deactivates it (Prediction 1). The relation between an inappropriate response by the leader and the desired punishment is mediated sequentially by dispositional attribution to, outrage with, and attitude toward him/her (Prediction 2). In Experiment 1, the accused leader had resigned (i.e., already punished) or hadn't resigned from the position (i.e., remained unpunished). In Experiment 2, the leader had also cooperated with (i.e., an appropriate response) or threatened the accusers and the investigators (i.e., an inappropriate response). Participants (Ns = 168 and 200) from India made the dispositional attribution, outrage, attitude, and punishment responses to the leader. Results supported both predictions. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.