Children and Even Sometimes Adults

Children and even sometimes adults often rely on shifting blame for actions to others as an early form of self preservation, yet most learn rather quickly that doing so will likely lead to negative consequences, while a small minority of people do not implement this lesson, at least universally, even if it has been learned. Reasons for this have been debated for a long time, and they are clearly multifaceted in nature. For the child, sensitivity to blame is extreme and acceptance is essential, so the child may blame others for his or her actions as a way to retain acceptance, before they have learned that acceptance is largely unconditional, especially from main caregivers. It is possible that the loss of that sense of the unconditional, or the lack of its generation in the first place could be the source of adult shifting of blame. What is clear is that one of the most foundational steps of human development is associated with taking responsibility for individual actions.

Consequences for not doing so can severely impact the individual on a social and possibly even legal front, as ones social circle and possibly authority loses any sense of trust in the individual, who lies about blame, the "never cry wolf" mentality, where historical interactions have lead to lies and so future ones are driven by suspicion. Though it is a documented truth that most people lie, in fact quite frequently usually they do so to protect the feelings of others or at least to reduce the impact of actions. So, in a sense the problem could be one of social transition, where the individual fails to refocus their ideals toward the good of others, and retains the selfishness of childhood.