Cruelty escalates through harm-doing that changes actors, not just prior hatred.
Evidence
Gratuitous cruelty is understood not only as a reflection of initial attitude (of hatred and contempt for the victim) but also as the product of an escalating process of harm-doing and devaluation of the victim, in which people are changed by what they do. Through the concept of “pluralistic ignorance,” it is argued that the attitudes of individuals within a group cannot necessarily be inferred from collective behavior and conformity to a perceived group norm. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 55
Categorization
- XREF: Directly echoes the reader’s established interest in Milgram/Zimbardo obedience dynamics and the Bronze’s ‘people are changed by what they do’ mechanism. — connects to: Wars increase human cruelty, altering perceptions of normal behavior. — Nicholson Baker, Baseless- My Search for Secrets in the…, 338; Ordinary healthy people become cruel perpetrators under conducive social roles. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 681; Harming victims deepens commitment to ideologies that justify further harm. (+6 more)
- QUESTION: Cast here as an introduction summarizing contributors; worth verifying which chapter develops the pluralistic-ignorance argument in depth.
Broader Connections
- People who harm others escalate the severity of harm they inflict
#corroborates(0.93) — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 127 - Cruelty is taught through graduated steps, not sudden leaps
#corroborates(0.90) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 673 - Becoming cruel happens gradually through a slippery slope of minor tolerated harms.
#corroborates(0.90) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 670 - Harming victims deepens commitment to ideologies that justify further harm.
#expands(0.88) - Committing morally ambiguous acts leads actors to derogate victims
#expands(0.85) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3961 - Routine torture training escalates cruelty progressively through graded exposure
#exemplifies(0.82) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 673 - Ordinary healthy people become cruel perpetrators under conducive social roles.
#qualifies(0.78) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 681 - Dehumanizing victims as animals makes killing psychologically easier for perpetrators
#exemplifies(0.76) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2449 - Wars increase human cruelty, altering perceptions of normal behavior.
#expands(0.72) — Nicholson Baker, Baseless- My Search for Secrets in the…, 338