Shared identity with the perpetrator is the critical precondition for moral disengagement

Evidence

Moderators of Moral Disengagement In the evidence reviewed earlier, the implicit, yet critical factor for the emergence of moral disengagement in the context of in-group responsibility is that participants share a collective identity with the perpetrator. The presence of this shared social identity, and the strength of the identification of the individual with the group, has long been considered an important moderator of group processes and intergroup relations (Brewer, 1979, 1999; Tajfel & Turner, 1979; Turner, Hogg, Oakes, Reicher, & Wetherell, 1987). For instance, it has been shown to moderate the perception of homogeneity and entitativity (Castano & Yzerbyt, 1998; Castano et al., 2003), the black sheep effect (Castano, Paladino, Coull, & Yzerbyt, 2002), and the in-group overexclusion effect (Castano, Yzerbyt, Bourguignon, & Seron, 2002; for a review, see Yzerbyt, Castano, Leyens, & Paladino, 2000). — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2112

Categorization

• DEFINE: Names ‘shared social identity with the perpetrator’ as the critical moderator, a precise mechanism-level boundary condition worth holding alongside identification-strength claims.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 2112
• XREF: connects to: Dehumanizing the victim precedes atrocity through ‘pathic projection’ of the perpetrator’s own image — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia: Reflections from…, 119; Moral disengagement mechanisms enable justification of in-group harm. — Sonia Roccas and Yechiel Klar and Ido Liviatan, The Paradox of Group-Based Guilt: Modes…, 47; Imagining the perpetrator’s viewpoint raises guilt only in low identifiers — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 1061 (+3 more)