The Role of Morality in Individuals’ Willingness to Offend Within a Rational Choice Perspective

Although rational choice theory has been widely researched, the role of morality is underemphasized in explaining individuals’ willingness to offend (WTO). The present study uses survey data and vignettes to evaluate the association between morality and WTO across several scenario manipulations. We...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Authors: Burckley, Jacquelyn (Author) ; Jaynes, Chae M. (Author) ; Rennó Santos, Mateus (Author) ; Cochran, John K. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2025
In: Victims & offenders
Year: 2025, Volume: 20, Issue: 8, Pages: 1463-1484
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Keywords:
Decision-making
Offending
situational context
Rational Choice
Morality
Description
Summary:Although rational choice theory has been widely researched, the role of morality is underemphasized in explaining individuals’ willingness to offend (WTO). The present study uses survey data and vignettes to evaluate the association between morality and WTO across several scenario manipulations. We also compare results across multiple analytical strategies. Our findings indicate that those with strong moral beliefs are less likely to offend regardless of context, but that context does matter for those with weak moral beliefs. Findings are also consistent across analytical strategies, suggesting that modeling choice has no substantive influence when assessing this research question.
ISSN:1556-4991
DOI:10.1080/15564886.2024.2314097