Successful scapegoating can strengthen commitment to the scapegoating ideology

Evidence

Finally, if ideological commitment is the proximal cause of scapegoating, an important implication follows. Older scapegoat theories assumed that the lessening of frustrations would decrease subsequent scapegoating. The current model suggests, however, that if the scapegoating movement itself is viewed as having improved general life conditions ( J), thereby “proving” its effectiveness, ideological commitment is likely to increase. For example, the Nazis’ economic successes in the 1930s increased Germans’ faith in Hitler’s policies, encouraging the Nazis to take increasingly harsh and, finally, murderous actions against the Jews. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1608

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Hamilton & colleagues’ ingroup-ideology models and to Allport’s frustration-aggression lineage in the same book, as well as to the author’s earlier reading on moral panics and mass persecution as stabilizing mechanisms.
• SEED: Angle: when persecuting a scapegoat actually works economically, the scapegoating becomes self-reinforcing rather than self-limiting — a feedback loop that explains why persecution escalates rather than fades once begun.