Perceiving an outgroup as powerful and malevolent rationalizes even murder as self-defense.

Evidence

Conspiracy theories and related rumors that blame disliked events on the machinations of a group are the hallmark of envious prejudice and scapegoating. Intergroup emotion theory (Smith & Mackie, ch. 22 this volume) suggests that an outgroup that is perceived as intentionally having brought about calamities for the ingroup will elicit strong (group-based) anger. If a scapegoated group is viewed as both powerful and malevolent, even the most extreme actions against them (e.g., murder) can be rationalized as self-defense. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1587

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The mechanism — perceived power plus malevolence converting extreme violence into ‘self-defense’ — is the psychological engine behind genocide, dense and counterintuitive enough to sit with for days.
• SEED: Article angle: how every perpetrator regime reframes mass violence as preemptive self-defense against a ‘powerful’ victim — the psychology inside that framing reversal.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 1587