The roles of retribution and utility in determining punishment

Three studies examined the motives underlying people’s desire to punish. In previous research, participants have read hypothetical criminal scenarios and assigned “fair” sentences to the perpetrators. Systematic manipulations within these scenarios revealed high sensitivity to factors associated with motives of retribution, but low sensitivity to utilitarian motives. This research identiWes the types of information that people seek when punishing criminals, and explores how diVerent types of information aVect punishments and conWdence ratings. Study 1 demonstrated that retribution information is more relevant to punishment than either deterrence or incapacitation information. Study 2 traced the information that people actually seek when punishing others and found a consistent preference for retribution information. Finally, Study 3 conWrmed that retribution information increases participant conWdence in assigned punishments. The results thus provide converging evidence that people punish primarily on the basis of retribution. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.