Retributive Sentiments Track Both Deterrent and Compensatory Concerns in a Small-Scale Society and a WEIRD Sample
= 600). Consistent with compensatory concerns, participants demanded that victims be rewarded in the currency of their loss and that more severe punishment be imposed when victims suffered more, holding aggressor benefit constant. Consistent with compensation being entangled with deterrence, participants endorsed additional penalties beyond restitution that were higher for recidivism and intentional offenses. This proximate entanglement of compensation and deterrence helps resolve apparent contradictions about the function of punishment in humans.
Authors
- Léo Fitouchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1724-0129)
- Manvir Singh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6026-947X)
Institutions
- Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (FR)
- University of California, Davis (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Psychological Science
- Published
- 2026-05-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976261439088
- Primary Topic
- Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Harvard University
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- FAS Center for Systems Biology, Harvard University