Appeasing yourself or others? The use of self-punishment and compensation and how it influences punishment

This paper analyzes experimental data to better understand self-punishment and compensation as potential means for making amends for having caused distributional harm and inefficiency. Our design allows for and disentangles intended harm and unintended harm. In our data, subjects infrequently self-punish, whereas they frequently offer compensation. Appeasement tactics are used particularly when the harmed party can punish the harm doer. Compensation is an informative signal for the harm doer’s benign intent, which does not similarly apply to self-punishment. Both self-punishment and compensation lower the punishment level imposed by the harmed party on the harm doer, whereas results regarding the probability of punishment are less clear.

本研究通过分析实验数据，旨在深入探究自我惩罚与补偿作为弥补造成分布性损害与低效之可能手段的机制。本设计旨在允许并区分有意损害与无意损害。在我们的数据中，受试者较少采取自我惩罚，而补偿行为则较为常见。当受害方能够对加害方实施惩罚时，安抚策略被特别运用。补偿行为对加害方善意意图的传达具有信息性信号，而此点并不适用于自我惩罚。无论是自我惩罚还是补偿，均能降低受害方对加害方实施的惩罚程度，然而关于惩罚概率的结果则不够明确。