Understanding Responsibility For Wrongdoing

Many years ago I heard a psychologist mention a concept which has to do with the basic nature of people and how they understand responsibility for wrongdoing.

Apparently, it has been observed that in a general sense people tend to be wired in such a way that they fall into one of two groups. In the one group are people who discover something has gone wrong and immediately ask, “Now what have you done?”

In the minds of those in the first group any error or wrongdoing which was committed must have been done by someone else because it is rather obvious it could not have been them.

In the other group are people who discover something has gone wrong and immediately ask, “Now what have I done?”

In the minds of those in the second group any error or wrongdoing which was committed must be attributable to them in some way because, come on, it only makes sense.

I am in the latter group. I have occasionally considered the possibility I even have some responsibility for mistakes, errors and problems which occurred before I was born. (That’s a joke but it’s almost, kind of, true.) I must admit there are times I am a bit envious of those who can honestly go through life with the mindset of the former group. It must be nice to always have the assurance that somebody else has made the mistake.