RESPONSES TO INJUSTICES BY HONG-KONG CHINESE COLLEGE-STUDENTS

Hong Kong Chinese college students' cognitive responses to a person who gained some benefits from an unfair act for which he or she was not accountable were investigated. The results show that, despite it being evident to the subjects that the advantaged person was not responsible for the unfair act, they derogated that person's integrity. Moreover, though the one who benefited from the unfair act could attribute the benefit as unexpected gain, he or she still felt guilty. Subjects who imagined themselves to have lost in a fair competition for promotion also derogated the person who was promoted. This pattern of results suggests that blame assignment among Hong Kong Chinese college students may have been independent of causation and responsibility inferences. © 1991 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.