Win Together, Lose Alone: How Attributions of Blame Pinpoint and Praise Generalize
Public Deposited- Last Modified
- February 26, 2019
- Creator
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Frasca, Teresa
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
- Abstract
- We’ve all played the blame game before, pointing the finger at someone for the downfall of our projects. When we succeed, however, everyone’s contributions are recognized and celebrated. In this study, we proposed the “Win Together, Lose Alone” phenomenon. Consistent with Barbara Frederickson’s research on how positivity broadens thought and negativity narrows it, we propose that when we are successful in our endeavors, our positivity opens us up to praising many people, but when we fail, our negativity narrows our focus to blaming just one person. The current research examines this phenomenon of blaming one but praising many in four domains: athletics, group work, corporations, and parent-child relationships. Through surveys, participants rated the moral responsibility and praiseworthiness/blameworthiness of individuals in each domain. Data suggests that more individuals are praised than individuals who are blamed, supporting the “Win Together, Lose Alone” phenomenon. This repeated effect speaks to the way we assign praise and blame in daily life and how we navigate the moral arena.
- Date of publication
- spring 2015
- Keyword
- DOI
- Resource type
- Rights statement
- In Copyright
- Note
- Funding: David Bray Peele Memorial Research Award
- Advisor
- Gray, Kurt
- Degree
- Bachelor of Science
- Honors level
- Highest Honors
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Extent
- 42
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