Protection, payback, or both? Emotional and motivationalmechanisms underlying avoidance by victims of transgressions

摘要

In the wake of an interpersonal offense, victimsoften feel motivated to avoid their perpetrators, and themore severe the offense, the more pronounced this moti-vation is. On the surface, avoidance appears to serve a self-protective function such that victims, compelled by a senseof fear and apprehension, withdraw from their wrongdoersto prevent further harm. However, avoidance might alsoserve a retaliatory purpose in which victims shun theiroffenders out of anger and hostility, using interpersonalaloofness as a means of payback. In the present pair ofstudies, we examined victims' self-reports of recent offenseexperiences and tested the mediating roles of fear andanger in the relationship between offense severity andavoidance motivations. Study 1 revealed that anger, notfear, was the emotion that mediated this relationship. Study2 replicated this finding and also showed that the linkbetween anger and avoidance was mediated both byrevenge and self-protection motives, which demonstratesthe complex nature of avoidance following a transgression.