Abstract
The main aim of the present study was to investigate the motivation behind people taking the blame for another person’s antisocial acts. One thousand four hundred and thirty-two students in further education in Iceland completed a specially constructed Motivation for Taking Blame Scale (MTBS), along with personality tests measuring antisocial personality traits, self-esteem, and compliance. Two hundred and thirty-two (16%) claimed to have taken the blame for an antisocial act somebody else had done (mainly for property offences and criminal damage). The majority (70%) took the blame for a friend. Principal component analysis of the MTBS revealed five factors: Excitement, Pressure, Disregard, Avoidance, and Cover-up. EPQ Psychoticism was the single best predictor for the Excitement and Disregard motives, whereas GCS Compliance was the only significant predictor for the Pressure and Avoidance motives. The Cover-up motive, although the most commonly endorsed factor, had a poor relationship with the personality measures. There are a number of different motives for taking blame, but this is most commonly done to protect the guilty person and do him or her a favour. Personality, particularly personality disorder traits and compliance, are significant predictor variables for taking blame for others.
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