Question

An american soldier is captured and tortured by enemy forces. The enemy then releases a videotape of the soldier proclaiming a deep hatred for america. According to the discounting principle, americans who later view this videotape are likely to explain the soldier's proclamations in terms of ________ causes.

Answer 1

Answers: Multiple causes.

The discounting principle argues that when people can see that there might be several reasons for a person's behaviour, they tend to discount, or minimize, the importance of each reason, since they cannot be sure of which is the right one.

In this case, the people who watch the videotape cannot be sure of the soldiers intentions (i. e. whether the views expressed are truly his beliefs, or whether he was forced to say them because of his situation), so they will be inclined to discount them.