The Knobe Effect
Updated 2026-08-08
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
The Knobe effect was identified by Joshua Knobe using the chairman thought experiment. In the scenario, a chairman adopts a policy that will harm the environment as a side effect, and most people say he harmed the environment intentionally. When the identical scenario describes the side effect as environmental benefit, most people say he did not help intentionally. The finding challenges the assumption that intent judgments are purely factual, showing that moral valence leaks into them. The qualification is that the asymmetry concerns side effects, not the agent's stated goal.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Separate intent from outcome: ask whether the bad result was aimed at or merely foreseen. - Expect harsher attribution: assume audiences will label harmful side effects as deliberate. - Strip the moral charge: when judging others, remove valence before assessing intention.
Anchor fast decisions
People do not compute intentionality as a neutral fact before evaluating the outcome. The moral status of the side effect feeds back into the judgment, because intent ascriptions assign praise and blame. When an outcome is harmful, calling it intentional makes the agent accountable, so the judgment drifts toward intentionality. When the outcome is beneficial, the same reasoning would grant credit, and the judgment drifts the other way. Accountability matters more for harm than for benefit, so the factual judgment is tuned to the moral stakes.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Knobeverified
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