People have a tendency to find someone to blame when bad things happen. This behavior is certainly very prevalent and easy to observe in children. The burgeoning personal liability business in our country attests to the pervasiveness of this tendency among adults as well.

     Psychological theory and research examining this observed human behavior is quite complicated and incomplete.  There is some empirical data emerging to explain why people blame others but for the most part much of our understanding is based on theory and speculation.  The authors cited below have developed a theory of blame prediction based on several situational and personal characteristics.

     There are four situational factors that affect the likelihood that other-blame will occur.  The presence of another at the time of the event increases the probability of that person being blamed. This is why surgeons and obstetricians seem to be blamed much more frequently than general practitioners.  The former are more likely to be there when a bad event occurs while the latter deal with insidious or chronic problems that have no discrete starting point.  In education, it is more likely, for example, that a teacher who retains a student will be blamed for the student's academic difficulties even ten years later despite the fact that the problems were there long before the event and continued afterwards.

     Another factor is the perceived knowledge or authority of the other person.  Individuals who are knowledgeable are expected to anticipate negative outcomes and avoid them.

     A third factor is how well known the other person is to the victim.  If the victim knows the other person well, blame is less likely to result.  An example of this is the greater likelihood of one driver suing another for an accident. They are usually strangers.  It is much less common for an injured passenger to sue the driver of the car he or she was I since they are more likely to know each other.

     Finally, the more severe the outcome of the event, the more likely someone will be blamed.  When two students argue in class, teachers are not usually concerned with who is to blame.  In contrast, when two students fight on the playground and one is injured, it is more likely that some effort will be expended to determine who was to blame.

     There are also two personal factors that are related to the likelihood that other-blame will occur.  One is the person's ability to find the good or benefit in a bad situation. This ability is characterized by statements such as "Maybe it is for the better," and "Some good may come out of this."  Similarly, people who tend to make downward comparisons (e.g., "I am fortunate for what I have.  Others have lost so much more.") are less likely to blame others.

     The other factor is the person's attributional style.  Some people tend to find fault with others in many situations regardless of the circumstances.  Every teacher has run across at least one such parent.  No matter how illogical the rationale, some people cling to the need to blame others for everything bad that happens.  In contrast, other people have an attributional style which leads to a tendency to blame themselves no matter how obviously blameworthy someone else is.

     In any given situation, an analysis of the interplay of these factors can lead to a better understanding of when and why other-blame takes place.

Tennen, H. & Affleck, G. (1990).  Blaming others for threatening events.  Psychological Bulletin, 108 (2), 209-232.