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  • August 2021
  • Article
  • Psychological Science

Anger Damns the Innocent

By: Katherine DeCelles, Gabrielle Adams, Holly S. Howe and Leslie K. John
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Abstract

False accusations of wrongdoing are common and can have grave consequences. In six studies, we document a worrisome paradox in perceivers’ subjective judgments of a suspect’s guilt. Specifically, we find that laypeople (online panelists; N = 4,983) use suspects’ angry responses to accusations as cues of guilt. However, we find that such anger is an invalid cue of guilt and is instead a valid cue of innocence; accused individuals university students (N = 230) and online panelists (N = 401) are angrier when they are falsely versus accurately accused. This pattern holds even among professionals (N = 136)—sophisticated perceivers with considerable practical influence. Moreover, we find that those who remain silent are perceived to be at least as guilty as those who angrily deny the accusation.

Keywords

Morality; Accusations; Deception; Guilt; Affect; Emotions; Behavior; Perception; Judgments; Decision Making

Citation

DeCelles, Katherine, Gabrielle Adams, Holly S. Howe, and Leslie K. John. "Anger Damns the Innocent." Psychological Science 32, no. 8 (August 2021): 1214–1226.
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About The Author

Leslie K. John

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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More from the Authors
  • Measuring the Prevalence of Sensitive Behaviors By: Tamar Krishnamurti and Leslie John
  • The Agreeable Revealer: Personality Correlates of Self-Disclosure By: Elinora Pentcheva and Leslie John
  • Should I Stay or Should I Disclose? How Omission Bias Guides Our Disclosure Decisions By: Elinora Pentcheva and Leslie John
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