Shifting Punishment on Minorities: Experimental Evidence of Scapegoating

Bauer, Michal; Cahlíková, Jana; Chytilová, Julie; Roland, Gérard; Želinský, Tomáš

doi:10.1093/ej/uead005

Shifting Punishment on Minorities: Experimental Evidence of Scapegoating

Bauer, Michal; Cahlíková, Jana; Chytilová, Julie; Roland, Gérard; Želinský, Tomáš

Authors

Michal Bauer

Jana Cahlíková

Julie Chytilová

Gérard Roland

Dr Tomas Zelinsky tomas.zelinsky@durham.ac.uk
Global Fellow

Abstract

Do members of a majority group systematically shift punishment on innocent members of an ethnic minority? We introduce an experimental paradigm, the Punishing the Scapegoat Game, to measure how injustice affecting a member of one's own group shapes punishment of an unrelated bystander. When no harm is done, we find no evidence of discrimination against the ethnic minority (Roma people in Slovakia). In contrast, when a member of one's own group is harmed, the punishment ‘passed’ on innocent individuals more than doubles when they are from the minority, as compared to when they are from the dominant group.

Citation

Bauer, M., Cahlíková, J., Chytilová, J., Roland, G., & Želinský, T. (2023). Shifting Punishment on Minorities: Experimental Evidence of Scapegoating. The Economic Journal, 133(652), 1626-1640. https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/uead005

Journal Article Type	Article
Online Publication Date	Jan 18, 2023
Publication Date	2023-05
Deposit Date	Feb 6, 2023
Publicly Available Date	Jan 19, 2025
Journal	The Economic Journal
Print ISSN	0013-0133
Electronic ISSN	1468-0297
Publisher	Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	133
Issue	652
Pages	1626-1640
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/uead005