Influences and the Assignment of Responsibility for Wrongdoing in Organizational Settings

Abstract

How do the media and an actor's social role influence a person's perception of organizational wrongdoing? We argue that the manner in which events are framed in media presentations influences how people attribute responsibility, regardless of the actor's social role. In the present study, approximately half of the participants watched a televised media report focusing on organizational causes of wrongdoing; the other half were not exposed to media influences. All participants read a vignette, which manipulated the actor's role. We then asked respondents to assign responsibility to both the individual and the organization presented in the vignette. Participants' attributions were influenced by both the media condition and the actor's role. However, the interaction between media and role was not significant. We discuss implications and directions for future research.