Dehumanizing victims lets perpetrators disengage self-sanctions for mistreatment
Evidence
Moral disengagement is the process through which we free ourselves from the negative consequences, primarily, but not exclusively, of a psychological nature (e.g., distress, shame, loss of reputation) that would likely follow should we acknowledge certain negative actions that we have committed (Bandura, 1999). Amid these strategies are euphemistic labeling (e.g., “collateral damage”), moral justification (“it is a battle against evil”), and dehumanization. The latter has received quite a lot of attention in psychological literature, and its function is well described by psychologist Albert Bandura. He argues that perceiving another person as human activates empathetic reactions that would make it difficult to mistreat him or her without risking personal distress, but that once the other is dehumanized, such self-sanctions for mistreatment can be disengaged (Bandura, 1990). — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2096 (
#expands, via linked claim)
Cold-blooded killings and barbaric executions require dehumanization of victims to eradicate any restraining moral qualms. It may be even easier to do it if victims are bestialized, with victims often degraded to “dogs.” … A photo showed him kneeling beside a decapitated corpse (El-Naggar, 2015). — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2449 (
#exemplifies, via linked claim)
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: Dehumanizing the victim precedes atrocity through ‘pathic projection’ of the perpetrator’s own image — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia: Reflections from…, 119; Routine dehumanization protects prostitutes from encountering clients as free persons. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1677; Reconciliation demands rehumanizing perpetrators, which ingroup norms punish — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 2011 (+22 more)
Broader Connections
- Dehumanizing opponents disables moral self-sanctions, enabling cruelty
#corroborates(0.97) - Dehumanization works by disabling the empathetic self-sanctions that normally block mistreatment.
#expands(0.95) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2096 - People disengage moral self-sanctions through euphemism, justification, and dehumanization
#expands(0.92) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2096 - Dehumanizing victims as animals makes killing psychologically easier for perpetrators
#exemplifies(0.92) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2449 - People derogate their victims to justify having harmed them.
#complicates(0.80) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3962 - Moral disengagement can fail, leaving perpetrators tormented by guilt
#complicates(0.75) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 228 - Dehumanized victims become a nuisance whose resistance grants functionaries moral self-esteem.
#complicates(0.72) — Zygmunt Bauman, Modernity and the Holocaust, 301