Pre-existing devaluation and authority-worship predict a society’s turn to scapegoating

Evidence

Certain cultural tendencies can make the forces unleashed during difficult times lead to scape-goating. What motives arise and how they are fulfilled depend on the characteristics of the culture and society. For example, a society that has long devalued a group and discriminated against its members, has strong respect for authority and has an overly superior and/or vulnerable selfconcept is more likely to turn against a subgroup. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3978

Categorization

• XREF: Instantiates the same fragility/stability logic as the reader’s prior sources on how social capital and group reputation make or break extralegal regimes. — connects to: Charismatic leaders exploit threat to create scapegoats and bring evil into being. — Jeff Greenberg and Spee Kosloff, Terror Management Theory: Implications…, 59