Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 4, 2025

A Procedure to Study Stress-Induced Relapse of Heroin Seeking after Punishment-Imposed Abstinence
Published on: March 23, 2022
Why Do God and Humans Punish? Perceived Retributivist Punishment Motives Hinge on Views of the True Self
Young-Eun Lee1, James P Dunlea1, Larisa Heiphetz1
1Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Abstract:
Laypeople often believe that God punishes transgressions; however, their inferences about God's punishment motives remain unclear. We addressed this topic by asking laypeople to indicate why God punishes. We also examined participants' inferences about why humans punish to contribute to scholarly conversations regarding the extent to which people may anthropomorphize God's mind. In Studies 1A to 1C, participants viewed God as less retributive than humans. In Study 2, participants expected God (vs. humans) to view humans' true selves more positively; this difference mediated participants' views of God as less retributive than humans. Study 3 manipulated agents' views of humans' true selves and examined how such information influenced each agent's perceived motives. Participants viewed a given agent as less retributive when that agent regarded the true self as good (versus bad). These findings extend scholarship on lay theories of punishment motives and highlight links between religious and moral cognition.
Related Concept Videos
Self-Evaluation: Self-Enhancement and Self-Verification
Fundamental Attribution Error
Self-Discrepancy Theory
The Sense of Self: Reflected Self-Appraisal and Social Comparison
The Behavioral Perspective on Personality
Punishment
Punishment can be positive or negative. Positive punishment involves adding an undesirable stimulus, such as scolding, to decrease a behavior. Negative punishment involves removing a desirable stimulus, such as taking away a favorite toy, to decrease behavior....

