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Evil and the Instigation of Collective Violence
Author(s) -
Mandel David R.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
analyses of social issues and public policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.479
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1530-2415
pISSN - 1529-7489
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-2415.2002.00030.x
Subject(s) - criminology , psychology , social psychology , construal level theory , nationalism , focus (optics) , sociology , political science , law , politics , physics , optics
Literature on the psychology of evil has tended to focus on the motivations of perpetrators of collective violence, but almost no work has examined the special role of instigators. This article examines some of the differences between instigators and perpetrators of collective violence with a focus on Osama bin Laden. Compared with perpetrators, instigators are more powerful and less interchangeable, and they tend to rely on some form of nationalism to rally support. The article also examines the attributional bases of evil and how differences of construal can contribute to an escalation of violence.