BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES

EVIL AND MORAL ACTS

Evil sometimes results from gradually escalating commitments
A small evil act can shape down moral sensitivity, making it easier
to perform a worse act
We tend not only to hurt those we dislike but also to dislike those
we hurt
Harming an innocent aggressors belittling/disparaging their victims
justification for their behavior
coaxed rather than coerced: When we agree to a deed voluntarily, we take
more responsibility for it
Prisoner-of-war camp guards/Enslavers
Executioners experience moral disengagement by coming to believer
that their victims deserve their fate

BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES

Actions and attitudes feed each other, sometimes to the point of
moral numbness
The more one harms another and adjusts ones attitudes, the
easier it becomes to do harm. Thus, conscious is corroded.
Killing begets killing: Violence and carnage (killing) seem to fuel further
violence and carnage (killing)

BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES

Harmful acts shape the self, but so do moral acts
Our characters is reflected in what we do when we think no one is
looking
Moral action, especially when chosen rather than coerced affects
moral thinking
Positive behavior fosters liking for the person
Doing a favor for someone usually increases liking for the person helped
(e.g. tutoring)

If you wish to love someone more, act as if you do

BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES

Interracial behaviors and Racial Attitudes
Legislation of moral action can under the right conditions,
indirectly affect heartfelt attitudes
Desegregation of schools in the U.S.

BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
A danger in the possibility of employing the same idea for political
socialization on a mass scale
Germans during Hitlers reign
Participation in Nazi rallies, displaying the Nazi flag, the public greeting
Hail Hitler established a profound inconsistency between behavior and
belief
Making themselves believe what they said

BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES

Not limited to totalitarian regimes
Daily flag salute and singing the national anthem patriotism

Brainwashing
Term coined to describe what happened to American POWs during the
Korean War
Active participation in everything: copying something, participating in
discussions, writing self-criticism, uttering public confessions
Once a prisoner had spoken or written a statement, he felt an inner need to
make his beliefs consistent with his acts
Start small and build