Blameworthiness

What it measures

Three bipolar items assess the degree to which a party — such as an employee or company — is viewed as responsible for and deserving of blame for an offence. Johnson, Folkes, and Wang (2018) used the scale in Study 4 with 110 students at the University of Southern California, in the context of determining whether blame for an employee's transgression extended to the employer. The source of the scale was not identified.

Response format

7-point bipolar semantic differential

Scale items

• not at all responsible / definitely responsible
• not at all at fault / definitely at fault
• should not be blamed at all / should definitely be blamed

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Instructions were not explicitly stated; participants appear to have been asked whether a party should be held responsible for actions they read about in a scenario. The scale is suitable for evaluating blame toward any clearly specified target.

Citation

Johnson, A. R., Folkes, V. S., & Wang, J. (2018). When one bad apple spoils consumers' judgment of the brand: Exposure to an employee's non-workplace transgression and potential remedies. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 46(4), 725–743.

Keywords