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Bad victims: Moral transgressions against immoral victims are judged less harshly.

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Title: Bad victims: Moral transgressions against immoral victims are judged less harshly.
Authors: Inbar, Yoel1 (AUTHOR) yoel.inbar@utoronto.ca, Mercier, Brett2 (AUTHOR), Mondol, Layla F.1 (AUTHOR), White, Cindel J.M.3 (AUTHOR)
Source: Cognition. Jun2026, Vol. 271, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p.
Subject Terms: *Empathy, Moral judgment, Victims, Ethics, Social perception, Immorality
Abstract: Four preregistered studies find that perpetrators who commit moral transgressions are judged less harshly when their transgressions impact individuals who have previously committed immoral actions (i.e., bad victims). In Studies 1 and 2, we used between- and within-participants comparisons to find that perpetrators, and the moral transgressions they committed, were judged less harshly when they affected bad (vs. neutral) victims. In Studies 3 and 4, we replicated these effects and found that bad victims were seen as having less capacity for emotional experience and suffering. Increased leniency towards perpetrators who transgressed against bad victims occurred even though perpetrators in our studies did not know who their victims were, meaning that it does not result from the perception that perpetrators were intentionally punishing bad victims. Instead, moral transgressions against bad victims may be viewed as less wrong because these transgressions are perceived to cause less harm to their victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Cognition is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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PubType: Academic Journal
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  Data: Bad victims: Moral transgressions against immoral victims are judged less harshly.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Inbar%2C+Yoel%22">Inbar, Yoel</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> yoel.inbar@utoronto.ca</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Mercier%2C+Brett%22">Mercier, Brett</searchLink><relatesTo>2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Mondol%2C+Layla+F%2E%22">Mondol, Layla F.</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22White%2C+Cindel+J%2EM%2E%22">White, Cindel J.M.</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Cognition%22">Cognition</searchLink>. Jun2026, Vol. 271, pN.PAG-N.PAG. 1p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Empathy%22">Empathy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Moral+judgment%22">Moral judgment</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Victims%22">Victims</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Ethics%22">Ethics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+perception%22">Social perception</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Immorality%22">Immorality</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
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  Data: Four preregistered studies find that perpetrators who commit moral transgressions are judged less harshly when their transgressions impact individuals who have previously committed immoral actions (i.e., bad victims). In Studies 1 and 2, we used between- and within-participants comparisons to find that perpetrators, and the moral transgressions they committed, were judged less harshly when they affected bad (vs. neutral) victims. In Studies 3 and 4, we replicated these effects and found that bad victims were seen as having less capacity for emotional experience and suffering. Increased leniency towards perpetrators who transgressed against bad victims occurred even though perpetrators in our studies did not know who their victims were, meaning that it does not result from the perception that perpetrators were intentionally punishing bad victims. Instead, moral transgressions against bad victims may be viewed as less wrong because these transgressions are perceived to cause less harm to their victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Cognition is the property of Elsevier B.V. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1016/j.cognition.2026.106448
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 1
        StartPage: N.PAG
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      – SubjectFull: Empathy
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Moral judgment
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Victims
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Ethics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social perception
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Immorality
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Bad victims: Moral transgressions against immoral victims are judged less harshly.
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            NameFull: Mercier, Brett
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            NameFull: Mondol, Layla F.
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            NameFull: White, Cindel J.M.
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          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 06
              Text: Jun2026
              Type: published
              Y: 2026
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              Value: 271
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