{"links":{"self":"http://dataportal.arc.gov.au/NCGP/API/grants/DE260101744"},"data":{"type":"grant-details","id":"DE260101744","attributes":{"code":"DE260101744","administering-organisation":"The University of Notre Dame Australia","announcement-administering-organisation":"The University of Notre Dame Australia","scheme-name":"Discovery Early Career Researcher Award","grant-status":"Active","funding-commencement-year":2026,"years-funded":3,"project-start-date":"2026-01-01","anticipated-end-date":"2028-12-31","grant-summary":"The Blame Game: Culpability, Co-Operation and Cultural Change. Blaming is ubiquitous in modern society, and there are frequent calls to reduce our collective outrage. This project aims to develop a new theory of what blame is, what it is for, and how it can be used for both good and bad. Using findings from game theory and psychology, the project expects to generate new knowledge of blame’s primary function—upholding community norms. It does this in three ways: signalling our expectations to others, sanctioning norm-violators, and sensitising agents to norms via psychological internalisation. The project will fill a significant gap in our understanding of the moral emotions and how blame can be abused. It will benefit society\nby answering when blame in the public sphere should be fostered or forsworn.","funding-current":493906.00,"funding-at-announcement":490495,"investigators-current":[{"title":"Dr","firstName":"Adam","familyName":"Piovarchy","roleName":"Discovery Early Career Researcher Award","roleCode":"DECRA","isFellowship":true,"orcidIdentifier":"0000-0002-5169-2030 "}],"investigators-at-announcement":[{"title":"Dr","firstName":"Adam","familyName":"Piovarchy","roleName":"Discovery Early Career Researcher Award","roleCode":"DECRA","isFellowship":true,"orcidIdentifier":"0000-0002-5169-2030 "}],"organisations-current":[{"organisationName":"The University of Notre Dame Australia","roleName":"Administering Organisation","state":"WA"}],"organisations-at-announcement":[{"organisationName":"The University of Notre Dame Australia","roleName":"Administering Organisation","state":"WA"}],"field-of-research":[{"isPrimary":true,"code":"5003","name":"Philosophy","type":"FOR20"},{"isPrimary":false,"code":"500306","name":"Ethical Theory","type":"FOR20"},{"isPrimary":false,"code":"500311","name":"Philosophical Psychology (Incl. Moral Psychology and Philosophy of Action)","type":"FOR20"}],"socio-economic-objective":[{"code":"130304","name":"Social Ethics","type":"SEO20"},{"code":"280119","name":"Expanding Knowledge In Philosophy and Religious Studies","type":"SEO20"}],"international-collaboration":["England","Italy","Netherlands","United States of America"],"lief-register":[],"achievement-summary":null,"national-interest-test-statement":"The Australian public sphere is increasingly filled with outrage, anger, and blaming, resulting in polarisation, loss of social cohesion, and a lack of trust in institutions. This project investigates why there is so much blame in the digital era, what its point is, and how it can be abused. The project will fill a significant gap in our understanding of the moral emotions, using scientific research and evolutionary theory to develop a new theory of blame’s nature. It shows that blame has an important function: upholding moral norms, which it does by signalling our commitments, deterring wrongdoing, and developing others' moral conscience, particularly that of children. However, problems arise when blame is used primarily for social punishment towards people who don't share our values, or in online spaces towards people with whom we lack ongoing relationships. The project will benefit Australia socially and culturally by outlining how we can reduce the amount of unhealthy blaming in public spaces, enhancing social cohesion, while still holding perpetrators accountable. The project outcome will be a framework for determining when blame can enforce and improve compliance with community expectations. This will provide a means by which institutions and politicians can improve social trust and improve community cohesion."}}}