Taking Back Control: Findings on the Cognitive, Behavioral, and Motivational Consequences of Victim Sensitivity

Being duped is an aversive experience which people are motivated to avoid. For this reason, especially people with a high fear of exploitation (i.e., people high in victim sensitivity; VS) often behave pre-emptively selfish and defensive in socially uncertain situations. Because the cognitive and motivational processes underlying such defensiveness have received little attention so far, we conducted two studies aiming to close this research gap. In Study 1 ( n = 84), we used virtual reality technology to examine whether social distancing, hostile interpretations of an interaction partner’s intentions and behavior, and legitimizing cognitions regarding own selfish reactions (as elements of a suspicious mindset) mediate the effect of VS on uncooperativeness. Results did not show the expected mediation, but VS was still related to hostile information processing and fear of exploitation. In Study 2 ( n = 273), we extended these findings by showing that defensive reactions of people high in VS can be attenuated if a sense of control is reinforced. Together, the two studies crucially expand our knowledge of the defensive motivational system in victim-sensitive individuals.