Why Do People Blame the Victim?

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsExamplesCausesEffectsPrevention

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Examples

Causes

Effects

Prevention

Blaming the victim is a phenomenon in which victims of crimes or tragedies are held accountable for what happened to them. Victim blaming allows people to believe that such events could never happen to them. Blaming the victim is known to occur in rape andsexual assaultcases, where the victim of the crime is often accused of inviting the attack due to her clothing or behavior.

At a Glance

Examples of Blaming the Victim

These types of questions, sadly, are not uncommon after people hear about a terrible event.

Why, after such a horrible crime, do so many people seem to “blame the victim” for their circumstances?

When news reports surfaced of a woman being raped, many questions center on what the victims were wearing or doing that might have “provoked” the attack. When people are mugged, others frequently wonder what victims were doing out so late at night or why they did not take extra measures to protect themselves from the crime.

What Causes Blaming the Victim?

Victim-blaming can be confusing. What is behind this tendency to blame the victim?

Our Attributions Contribute

One psychological phenomenon that contributes to this tendency to lay the blame on the victim is known as the fundamentalattributionerror.

The fundamental attribution error is a bias that involves attributing other people’s behaviors to internal, personal characteristics while ignoring external forces and variables that also might have played a role.

When a classmate flunks a test, for example, you probably attribute their behavior to a variety of internal characteristics. You might believe that the other student didn’t study hard enough, isn’t smart enough, or is just plain lazy.

Ifyouwere to fail a test, however, what would you blame your poor performance on? In many cases, people blame their failings on external sources. You might protest that the room was too hot and you couldn’t concentrate, or that the teacher didn’t grade the test fairly or included too many trick questions.

Hindsight Is 20/20

Another issue that contributes to our tendency to blame the victim is known as thehindsight bias.

And this isn’t just something that happens when we are looking at things such as rape or assault. When someone becomes ill, people often seek to blame past behaviors for a person’s current state of health.

Cancer?They should have stopped smoking.Heart disease?Well, I guess they should have exercised more.Food poisoning?Should have known better than to have eaten at that new restaurant.

Such cases of blame seem to suggest that people should have simply known or expected such things to happen given their behavior, while in truth there was no way to predict the outcome.

We Like to Believe Life Is Fair When It Isn’t

Our tendency to blame the victim also stems in part from our need to believe that the world is a fair and just place. When something bad happens to another person, we often believe that they must have done something to deserve such a fate. Social psychologists refer to this tendency as thejust-world phenomenon.

Why do we feel this need to believe that the world is just and that people get what they deserve?

Bad Things Can Happen to Anyone, Even YouBecause if we think that the world is not fair, then it becomes more apparent thatanyonecan fall victim to tragedy. Yes, even you, your friends, your family, and your other loved ones. No matter how cautious and conscientious you might be, bad things can and do happen to good people.

Bad Things Can Happen to Anyone, Even You

Because if we think that the world is not fair, then it becomes more apparent thatanyonecan fall victim to tragedy. Yes, even you, your friends, your family, and your other loved ones. No matter how cautious and conscientious you might be, bad things can and do happen to good people.

Lack of Empathy

Victim blaming can also stem from alack of empathyfor others. People who lack empathy are often extremely critical of others. They usually dislike coping with emotional situations and don’t think about other people’s experiences or perspectives when interpreting situations.

Because of this lack of empathy, they are more likely to blame people when bad things happen to them. They are also less likely to offer to help.

The Effects of Blaming the Victim

How to Combat Blaming the Victim

The reality is that you’ve probably engaged in victim blaming at some point or another. You may have dismissed someone’s experience and believed that it was their own fault. However, there are things that you can do to help prevent it in the future:

What This Means For YouBad things can and probably will happen to you at some point in your life. So the next time you find yourself wondering what someone else did to bring on their misfortune, take a moment to consider the psychological attributions and biases that affect your judgment. Rather than blame the victim, try putting yourself in that person’s shoes and perhaps try a littleempathyinstead.

What This Means For You

Bad things can and probably will happen to you at some point in your life. So the next time you find yourself wondering what someone else did to bring on their misfortune, take a moment to consider the psychological attributions and biases that affect your judgment. Rather than blame the victim, try putting yourself in that person’s shoes and perhaps try a littleempathyinstead.

Sexual Assault and Victim Blaming

4 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Artino AR, Durning SJ, Waechter DM, Leary KL, Gilliland WR.Broadening Our Understanding of Clinical Quality: From Attribution Error to Situated Cognition.Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2012;91(2):167-169. doi:10.1038/clpt.2011.229Roese NJ, Vohs KD.Hindsight Bias.Perspect Psychol Sci. 2012;7(5):411-426. doi:10.1177/1745691612454303Van der Bruggen M.A review of the literature relating to rape victim blaming: An analysis of the impact of observer and victim characteristics on attribution of blame in rape cases.Aggress Violent Behav. 2014;19(5):523-531. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2014.07.008Kline NK, Berke DS, Rhodes CA, Steenkamp MM, Litz BT.Self-blame and PTSD following sexual assault: A longitudinal analysis.J Interpers Viol. 2021;36(5-6):NP3153-NP3186. doi:10.1177/0886260518770652Additional ReadingNiemi L, Young L.When and Why We See Victims as Responsible: The Impact of Ideology on Attitudes Toward Victims.Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2016;42(9):1227-1242. doi:10.1177/0146167216653933Stromwall LA, Alfredsson H, Landstrom S.Rape victim and perpetrator blame and the just world hypothesis: The influence of victim gender and age.J Sex Aggress. 2013;19(2):207-217. doi:10.1080/13552600.2012.683455

4 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Artino AR, Durning SJ, Waechter DM, Leary KL, Gilliland WR.Broadening Our Understanding of Clinical Quality: From Attribution Error to Situated Cognition.Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2012;91(2):167-169. doi:10.1038/clpt.2011.229Roese NJ, Vohs KD.Hindsight Bias.Perspect Psychol Sci. 2012;7(5):411-426. doi:10.1177/1745691612454303Van der Bruggen M.A review of the literature relating to rape victim blaming: An analysis of the impact of observer and victim characteristics on attribution of blame in rape cases.Aggress Violent Behav. 2014;19(5):523-531. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2014.07.008Kline NK, Berke DS, Rhodes CA, Steenkamp MM, Litz BT.Self-blame and PTSD following sexual assault: A longitudinal analysis.J Interpers Viol. 2021;36(5-6):NP3153-NP3186. doi:10.1177/0886260518770652Additional ReadingNiemi L, Young L.When and Why We See Victims as Responsible: The Impact of Ideology on Attitudes Toward Victims.Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2016;42(9):1227-1242. doi:10.1177/0146167216653933Stromwall LA, Alfredsson H, Landstrom S.Rape victim and perpetrator blame and the just world hypothesis: The influence of victim gender and age.J Sex Aggress. 2013;19(2):207-217. doi:10.1080/13552600.2012.683455

Artino AR, Durning SJ, Waechter DM, Leary KL, Gilliland WR.Broadening Our Understanding of Clinical Quality: From Attribution Error to Situated Cognition.Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2012;91(2):167-169. doi:10.1038/clpt.2011.229Roese NJ, Vohs KD.Hindsight Bias.Perspect Psychol Sci. 2012;7(5):411-426. doi:10.1177/1745691612454303Van der Bruggen M.A review of the literature relating to rape victim blaming: An analysis of the impact of observer and victim characteristics on attribution of blame in rape cases.Aggress Violent Behav. 2014;19(5):523-531. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2014.07.008Kline NK, Berke DS, Rhodes CA, Steenkamp MM, Litz BT.Self-blame and PTSD following sexual assault: A longitudinal analysis.J Interpers Viol. 2021;36(5-6):NP3153-NP3186. doi:10.1177/0886260518770652

Roese NJ, Vohs KD.Hindsight Bias.Perspect Psychol Sci. 2012;7(5):411-426. doi:10.1177/1745691612454303

Van der Bruggen M.A review of the literature relating to rape victim blaming: An analysis of the impact of observer and victim characteristics on attribution of blame in rape cases.Aggress Violent Behav. 2014;19(5):523-531. doi:10.1016/j.avb.2014.07.008

Kline NK, Berke DS, Rhodes CA, Steenkamp MM, Litz BT.Self-blame and PTSD following sexual assault: A longitudinal analysis.J Interpers Viol. 2021;36(5-6):NP3153-NP3186. doi:10.1177/0886260518770652

Niemi L, Young L.When and Why We See Victims as Responsible: The Impact of Ideology on Attitudes Toward Victims.Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2016;42(9):1227-1242. doi:10.1177/0146167216653933Stromwall LA, Alfredsson H, Landstrom S.Rape victim and perpetrator blame and the just world hypothesis: The influence of victim gender and age.J Sex Aggress. 2013;19(2):207-217. doi:10.1080/13552600.2012.683455

Niemi L, Young L.When and Why We See Victims as Responsible: The Impact of Ideology on Attitudes Toward Victims.Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2016;42(9):1227-1242. doi:10.1177/0146167216653933

Stromwall LA, Alfredsson H, Landstrom S.Rape victim and perpetrator blame and the just world hypothesis: The influence of victim gender and age.J Sex Aggress. 2013;19(2):207-217. doi:10.1080/13552600.2012.683455

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At a Glance#

Examples of Blaming the Victim#

What Causes Blaming the Victim?#

Our Attributions Contribute#

Hindsight Is 20/20#

We Like to Believe Life Is Fair When It Isn’t#

Bad Things Can Happen to Anyone, Even You#

Lack of Empathy#

The Effects of Blaming the Victim#

How to Combat Blaming the Victim#

What This Means For You#