But
forgiveness stories are more meaningful, study finds
Ohio
State University
When
it comes to entertainment, people enjoy seeing bad guys get their punishment
more than seeing them be forgiven, a new study reveals.
But
even though they don't enjoy the forgiveness stories as much, people do find
these narratives more meaningful and thought-provoking than ones in which the
bad guys receive their just deserts.
"We
like stories in which the wrongdoers are punished and when they get more
punishment than they deserve, we find it fun," said Matthew Grizzard, lead
author of the study and assistant professor of communication at The Ohio State
University.
"Still,
people appreciate stories of forgiveness the most, even if they don't find them
to be quite as fun."
The
study was published online recently in the journal Communication
Research and will appear in a future print edition.
The study involved 184 college students who read short narratives that they were told were plots to possible television episodes.
The
students read 15 narratives: one-third in which the villain was treated
positively by the victim; one-third in which the villain received a just
punishment; and one-third in which the villain was punished over and beyond
what would have been a suitable penalty for the crime.
For
example, one story involved a person stealing $50 from a co-worker.
Participants read one of three possible endings.
In
one scenario, the victim bought coffee for the thief
(under-retribution/forgiveness); in another, the victim stole a $50 bottle of
whiskey from the thief (equitable retribution); and in the third version the
victim both stole his money back and downloaded porn onto the thief's work
computer (over-retribution).
Immediately
after reading each scenario, the participants were asked if they liked or
disliked the narrative. More people liked the equitable retribution stories
than those that involved under- or over-retribution, Grizzard said.
The
researchers also timed how long it took the readers to click the like or dislike
button on the computer after reading each of the narratives.
They
found that readers took less time to respond to stories with equitable
retribution than it did for them to respond to stories with under- or
over-retribution.
"People
have a gut-level response as to how they think people should be punished for
wrongdoing and when a narrative delivers what they expect, they often respond
more quickly," Grizzard said.
When the punishment did not fit the crime, the participants took a bit longer to respond to the story with a like or dislike.
But why they took longer appeared to be different for stories with under-retribution versus stories with over-retribution, Grizzard said. The reason why may be explained by the next part of the study.
After
the participants read all 15 narratives, they rated each story for enjoyment
("This story would be a good time, fun, entertaining") and
appreciation ("This story would be meaningful, moving,
thought-provoking").
Participants
thought stories in which the bad guys were over-punished would be the most
enjoyable and those in which the bad guys were forgiven would be the least
enjoyable to watch. Equitable punishment was in the middle.
But
they also said they would appreciate the stories about forgiveness more than
the other two types of narratives.
So
the participants may have paused slightly before responding to the forgiveness
stories to reflect, because they saw them as more meaningful, Grizzard said.
But
while they also paused for the over-punishment narratives, they did not find
them more meaningful, only more enjoyable, he said. That suggests the pause may
have been simply to savor the extra punishment the villain received.
"It
appears to be the darker side of just enjoying the vengeance," he said.
Overall,
the results suggest that a fair and just retribution is the "intuitive
moral standard" that comes to us easily and naturally, according to
Grizzard.
"But
seeing a lack of punishment requires a level of deliberation that doesn't come
to us naturally. We can appreciate it, even if it doesn't seem particularly
enjoyable."
