Motive-matching: Perceptions of intentionality for coerced action

Three studies examined perceiversʹ judgments of intentionality for an agent who acted under varying levels of psychological coercion. Study 1 demonstrated that judgments of intentional action are sensitive to psychological constraints surrounding an agentʹs aggressive behavior. Moreover, intentionality judgments were mediated by perceptions of the agentʹs motives for acting. Study 2 extended these findings by showing that coercion and explicit motive information independently contribute to ascriptions of intentionality. Study 3 demonstrated that perceived motives also inform judgments of intentionality for coerced prosocial behavior. Together, these studies suggest that perceived intentionality is reduced when there is a “mismatch” between an agentʹs apparent motives and behavior (e.g., the agent appears motivated to help a victim, but nevertheless hurts the victim). These results challenge the common view that intentionality rests on an agentʹs ability to do otherwise and suggest an important role for cues about an agentʹs motive.