Outcome mutability, culpable control, and blame attribution in crisis
基于1364名中国公民的预注册调查实验，研究了结果可变性和应受责备的控制如何影响公民在危机中对政府的责备，发现当公民认为政府应对负面结果负责且结果本可避免时，责备更强。
This study investigates the influence of two critical but underdeveloped factors, namely outcome mutability and culpable control, on citizens’ blame towards governments during crises. Based on a pre-registered survey experiment with 1364 Chinese citizens, our analysis shows that citizens assign more blame when they perceive the government as culpable for negative outcomes arising from crises. Additionally, outcome mutability increases citizens’ blame on the government, especially when they believe negative consequences could have been prevented. These findings demonstrate that counterfactual reasoning and causal inference influence citizens’ blame of the government, deepening our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying it in crises.