An interaction effect of norm violations on causal judgment

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Norm violations are known to influence causal judgments.
• Several models exist to explain these effects, including the necessity/sufficiency model.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the interaction between norm violations in causal judgments.
• To test the necessity/sufficiency model's prediction of an interaction effect.

Main Methods:

• A study involving moral norms (N=1000) and norms of proper functioning (N=3000).
• Analysis of participants' judgments on the degree to which a factor is a cause.

Main Results:

• Robust evidence for the predicted interaction effect was found.
• The degree of norm violation by one factor interacted with another factor's norm violation.

Conclusions:

• The findings support the necessity/sufficiency model's predictions.
• The study discusses implications for existing theories of causal judgment.