TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1999//
TI  - Accounting for evil and cruelty: is to explain to condone?
JO  - Personality and social psychology review
A1  - Miller, A. G.
A1  - Gordon, A. K.
A1  - Buddie, A. M.
SP  - 254
EP  - 268
VL  - 3
IS  - 3
N2  - Analysts of evil and violence express the concern that to explain harmdoing may result in a condoning attitude toward perpetrators. An examination of research relevant to this hypothesis suggests that there are a variety of cognitive and affective processes that may produce a relatively condoning attitude toward perpetrators as a result of explaining their actions. Evidence from 3 exploratory studies supported the exonerating effects of explanations. Participants generating explicit explanations of harmdoing displayed a more condoning attitude toward pelpetrators than did those forming impressions of perpetrators without first explaining the acts. Participants reading social-psychological explanations of harmdoing also judged the researcher to be more condoning of perpetrators than those reading dispositional explanations of the same behavior. Implications of these findings are discussed.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1088-8683
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0303_8
ID  - ref1
ER  -