Punitive Reactions to Tax Evasion in Italy
The Moderating Role of Economic System Justification
Abstract
Abstract. The present research investigates whether and how intentionality of (i.e., a retribution-related factor) and the difficulty to detect (i.e., a utilitarianism-related factor) tax evasion may influence people’s punitive reactions depending on individual differences in economic system justification. Results of a moderation analysis revealed (a) a positive effect of intentionality, but not difficult to detect, on punitiveness; (b) a negative effect of economic system justification on punitiveness; (c) an interactive effect between intentionality and economic system justification, suggesting that intentionality predicts punitive reactions towards tax evaders only when economic system justification is low. These results qualify the notion that people are more concerned about retribution than about utilitarianism, thereby providing support for the intuitive retributivism hypothesis. Also, they suggest that economic system justification plays a role in demotivating punishment toward tax evaders, especially in conjunction with retribution.
References
(2005). Effect size and power in assessing moderating effects of categorical variables using multiple regression: A 30-year review. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(1), 94–107. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.1.94
(1962).
Principles of penal law . In J. BowringEd., The works of Jeremy Bentham (pp. 396). W. Tait. (Original work published 1843).(2001). The Community Hopes, Fears and Actions Survey: Goals and measures (Centre for Tax System Integrity Working Paper 2). The Australian National University.
(2007). Taxation threat, motivational postures, and responsive regulation. Law & Policy, 29(1), 137–158). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9930.2007.00250.x
(2008). Development and validation of a scale for measuring the Economic System Justification (ESJ). Bollettino di Psicologia Applicata, 254, 53–58.
(2006). The roles of retribution and utility in determining punishment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42(4), 437–451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2005.06.007
(2008). On justifying punishment: The discrepancy between words and actions. Social Justice Research, 21(2), 119–137. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-008-0068-x
(2008). Psychological aspects of retributive justice. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 193–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(07)00004-4
(2002). Why do we punish? Deterrence and just deserts as motives for punishment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83(2), 284–299. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.83.2.284
(2003). Tax evasion in a model of endogenous growth. Review of Economic Dynamics, 6(2), 38–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1094-2025(03)00002-4
(1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Academic.
(2000). Incapacitation and just deserts as motives for punishment. Law and Human Behavior, 24(6), 659–683. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005552203727
(2020). Supplemental materials to “Punitive reactions to tax evasion in Italy: The moderating role of economic system justification”. https://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.4235
(1983). Public opinion and capital punishment: A close examination of the views of abolitionists and retentionists. Crime & Delinquency, 29(1), 116–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/001112878302900105
(1997). Taboo trade-offs: Reactions to transactions that transgress the spheres of justice. Political Psychology, 18(2), 255–297. https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00058
(2014). Individual differences underlying punishment motivation. Social Psychology, 45(6), 449–457. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000211
(2017). Need for closure, torture, and punishment motivations. Social Psychology, 48(6), 335–347. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000321
(2018). Approaching significance. https://approachingblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/powering-your-interaction-2/
(2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Press.
(1994). The role of stereotyping in system‐justification and the production of false consciousness. British Journal of Social Psychology, 33(1), 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8309.1994.tb01008.x
(2004). A decade of system justification theory: Accumulated evidence of conscious and unconscious bolstering of the status quo. Political Psychology, 25(6), 881–919. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2004.00402.x
(2000). Group-based dominance and opposition to equality as independent predictors of self-esteem, ethnocentrism, and social policy attitudes among African Americans and European Americans. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 36(3), 209–232. https://doi.org/10.1006/jesp.1999.1403
(1952).
The science of right . In R. HutchinsEd.. Great books of the western world (W. Hastie , Trans.).(2015). The determinants of tax evasion: A literature review. International Journal of Law and Management, 57(5), 486–497. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLMA-03-2014-0027
(2007). The economic psychology of tax behaviour. Cambridge University Press.
(2008). Enforced versus voluntary tax compliance: The “slippery slope” framework. Journal of Economic Psychology, 29(2), 210–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2007.05.004
(2010). Tax compliance inventory TAX-I: Designing an inventory for surveys of tax compliance. Journal of Economic Psychology, 31(3), 331–346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joep.2010.01.002
(1989). The deterrent effect of perceived certainty and severity of punishment revisited. Criminology, 27(4), 721–746. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1989.tb01052.x
(1998). Sober second thought: The effects of accountability, anger, and authoritarianism on attributions of responsibility. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24(6), 563–574. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167298246001
(1998). Utilitarianism (R. Crisp, Ed.). Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1871).
(2003). Procedural justice and tax compliance. Australian Journal of Social Issues, 38(3), 379–408.
(2018). A practical primer to power analysis for simple experimental designs. International Review of Social Psychology, 31(1), Article 20. https://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.181
(1990). Why people obey the law: Procedural justice, legitimacy and compliance. Yale University Press.
(1997). The psychology of legitimacy: A relational perspective on voluntary deference to authorities. Personality & Social Psychology Review, 1(4), 323–345. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0104_4
(2017). The moral punishment instinct. Oxford University Press.
(2007). Moral outrage mediates the dampening effect of system justification on support for redistributive social policies. Psychological Science, 18(3), 267–274. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2007.01887.x
(2018). On calculating power for interactions in 2 × 2 factorial designs. http://markhw.com/blog/power-twoway
(2001). Prosecuting non-lodgers: to persuade or punish? Centre for Tax System Integrity (CTSI), Research School of Social Sciences, The Australian National University.
