Losing one’s emotional reaction to killing is itself a source of distress

Evidence

Executioners varied in their reactions to participating in executions. Some took pride in their emotional toughness: “I take pride that I can do it without falling apart mentally”. Many others expressed concerns that taking human life would turn them into insensitive, uncaring persons. “My biggest concern is that I’ll be there and won’t feel anything. I have a real concern that it wouldn’t concern me any longer to put someone to death”. Evidence that an executioner had already begun to change in the feared direction was especially distressing: “The hardest thing for me is that the first one really affected me and the next two to three didn’t. It affected me that it didn’t affect me”. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2038 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Repeated killing reduces distress while moral disengagement plateaus at its initial high level — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2054; Feeling a range of emotions about death is necessary. — Lynch, Thomas, The undertaking-life studies from the…, 637; Executioners fear the loss of their own emotional responsiveness — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2038 (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Executioners fear the loss of their own emotional responsiveness #exemplifies (0.95) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2038