Ordinary people transform into autonomous, knowing evildoers through a conversion process

Evidence

Situations can be created in which it is possible to enlist the ordinary participant in the commission of evil, and in the process the participant is transformed into a creature capable of autonomously and knowledgeably committing evil actions. Importantly, this conversion is, as most conversions are, a process. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3920

Categorization

• XREF: The claim that ordinary participants become ‘autonomous’ and ‘knowledgeable’ evildoers complicates and extends the Milgram obedience finding, where participants remained distressed and submissive. — connects to: Entry into evildoing is gradual self-adaptation rather than Milgram’s sudden agentic shift — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 4042
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3920