Repeated killing reduces distress while moral disengagement plateaus at its initial high level

Evidence

Multiple executions did not produce further increases in moral disengagement in executioners above their initial level. However, performing the executions reduced the level of distress. The executioners described the desensitization through routinization: “No matter what it is, it gets easier over time. The job just gets easier.” The routinization is fostered by a sense of duty and professionalism in carrying out the executions: “The process has become very routine and the next day is easy. It should be that way. The job is something that must be taken care of. It is a duty of my job that has to be done”. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2054

Categorization

• XREF: Connects directly to the vault’s claims about duty-based rationalization enabling harmful policy support. — connects to: Death-penalty support personnel become morally disengaged by repeated exposure; Losing one’s emotional reaction to killing is itself a source of distress
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2054