Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm and Live with Themselves

by Albert Bandura

Breaking down the study of moral disengagement and how it leads people to rationalize doing cruel things, Moral Disengagement offers enlightening new perspectives on some of the most provocative issues of our time through this lense to show you how everyday evils can be counteracted by mindful moral engagement.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Social Work

544 pages, Hardcover

First published August 21, 2015

About the author

Albert Bandura OC is a psychologist who is the David Starr Jordan Professor Emeritus of Social Science in Psychology at Stanford University. For almost six decades, he has been responsible for contributions to the field of education and to many fields of psychology, including social cognitive theory, therapy, and personality psychology, and was also influential in the transition between behaviorism and cognitive psychology. He is known as the originator of social learning theory (renamed the social cognitive theory) and the theoretical construct of self-efficacy, and is also responsible for the influential 1961 Bobo doll experiment.

Social cognitive theory is how people learn through observing others. An example of social cognitive theory would be the students imitating the teacher. Self-efficacy is "the belief in one’s capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations." To paraphrase, self-efficacy is believing in yourself to take action. The Bobo Doll Experiment was how Albert Bandura studied aggression and non-aggression in children.

A 2002 survey ranked Bandura as the fourth most-frequently cited psychologist of all time, behind B. F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud, and Jean Piaget, and as the most cited living one. Bandura is widely described as the greatest living psychologist, and as one of the most influential psychologists of all time.

In 1974 Bandura was elected to be the Eighty-Second President of the American Psychological Association (APA). He was one of the youngest president-elects in the history of the APA at the age of 48. Bandura served as a member of the APA Board of Scientific Affairs from 1968 to 1970 and is well known as a member of the editorial board of nine psychology journals including the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology from 1963 to 1972. At the age of 82, Bandura was awarded the Grawemeyer Award for psychology.

Reviews

[Bea Krauss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dense, but well-researched book by a distinguished social psychologist. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand how cruelty is perpetrated by those who claim to be operating for the good. The first chapters are the most important outlining the individual, social, and behavioral strategies that allow people to live with themselves while doing harm. The principles are then applied to topics of current importance--tobacco industry, gun industry, fossil fuels, environmental degradation and more. It helps one see through the deliberate tactics of politicians who distract from harms by name-calling, reframing issues, distracting or denying harms.

[Yassir Morsi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Albert Bandura's book was a thoughtful experience that enriched my understanding of the intersection of morality and politics, their social practices, and their far-reaching effects, particularly in the context of the genocide in Palestine.
With some gratitude, I can now reflect on how the book helps me unravel the complex ways moral disengagement works, hence allowing individuals and societies to sidestep their ethical principles and obligations, leading to significant repercussions in realms which Bandura highlights, as diverse as capital punishment, the corporate sector, the gun and entertainment industries, terrorism, and environmental sustainability.
From the outset, Bandura invites us into a nuanced exploration of moral agency, shedding light on how we strive to maintain moral standards without compromising our integrity. This laid the groundwork for a deeper dive into the mechanisms we use for moral disengagement that help us sanction harmful behaviours seemingly against what we believe.
Throughout the book, Bandura highlights the influence of this moral disengagement in fostering behaviours with adverse social, ethical, and environmental consequences. The theory centres around these mechanisms by which individuals effectively rationalise theirs’s and other’s behaviour to disengage their self-regulatory moral standards, thereby allowing them to engage in conduct that contradicts their moral standards without feeling distress. Bandura proposed several mechanisms of moral disengagement, which include:

Moral Justification: Framing harmful conduct as serving socially worthy or moral purposes (e.g., claiming that an act of violence serves justice).

Euphemistic Labelling: Using sanitised or neutral language to disguise harmful actions (e.g., calling civilian casualties "collateral damage").

Advantageous Comparison: Comparing the act with more heinous acts to make it seem more acceptable (e.g., justifying a lie by comparing it to a more significant deception).

Displacement of Responsibility: Attributing one's actions to the dictates of authorities or social roles, thus absolving oneself of personal responsibility (e.g., "I was just following orders").

Diffusion of Responsibility: Perceiving one's actions as a result of collective action, thereby reducing personal accountability (e.g., participating in harmful group behaviour and feeling less responsible because "everyone was doing it").

Disregard or Distortion of Consequences: Minimising, ignoring, or disputing the harm caused by one's actions (e.g., denying that smoking causes cancer to justify continuing to smoke).

Dehumanisation: Stripping away the target's human qualities to justify mistreatment or violence against them (e.g., referring to people as animals or monsters).

Attribution of Blame: Blaming the victims for their plight or deserving the harm that befalls them (e.g., victim-blaming in cases of assault).

These mechanisms work individually or together to allow behaviours that they would otherwise view as wrong by altering the moral perception of the actions,

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a long study in how people justify their, often horrendous, actions. After a concise opening section that outlines every self-justifying tactic, each chapter outlines one broad area of society and how they use these tactics. The chapters are helpful in illustrating real life expressions of harmful behavior, and the justifications that are used to assuage the voice of conscience.

The one exception is the chapter on environmental damage. I consider myself an environmentalist, so I am sympathetic to Bandura's harangue. However, that's what that chapter was, one long harangue about his two pronged approach to saving the environment--limiting population growth and halting global warming. The author isn't content point fingers at corporations, or individuals, justifying these. Instead, the author is pointing his finger at his readers. Since having children is not a harmful act in itself, the chapter hits a sour note. Comparing having children, and driving a car to selling cigarettes to children just doesn't jibe well. This is why I took one star away.

[Elaine Harpine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book from one of the top psychology professors in the field. Albert Bandura raises and answers the question: "How Do People Do Harm and Live With Themselves?" Throughout the book Bandura talks about moral disengagement. Even though the book was published in 2016, it is extremely relevant today in 2024. We have not improved. Bandura discusses moral disengagement in reference to guns, entertainment, terrorism and counterterrorism, and even in reference to the environment. This is a must read. If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it.

[Robert Bogue · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to talk about moral behavior, at some point Albert Bandura’s name is going to come up. He’s done a great deal of work trying to understand people. His research in 1961 showed that children imitate the aggressive behavior they see adults doing. However, when Moral Disengagement: How Good People Can Do Harm and Feel Good About Themselves became available, it wasn’t immediately on my reading list – it was on Terri’s. Some of her mentors are quite the fan of Bandura’s work, and she was intrigued.

Click here to read the full review

[Martina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lettura a scelta per un esame universitario.

Libro tanto interessante quanto denso.
L’autore si concentra principalmente su questioni legate agli Stati Uniti, ma le questioni con validità di portata mondiale valgono la lettura di tutto il libro.

[Mills College Library]

170 B214m 2016

[Chris Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Morality exists in a state of exaggerated juxtaposition, which cancels comparatives out.

It will take you the rest of your life, Dr. Albert Bandura, to decipher the above sentence.

Chris Roberts