When and why do groups target each other for extermination? How do seemingly normal people become participants in genocide? Why do some individuals come to the rescue of members of targeted groups, while others just passively observe their victimization? And how do perpetrators and bystanderslater come to terms with the choices that they made? These questions have long vexed scholars and laypeople alike, and they have not decreased in urgency as we enter the twenty-first century. In this book--the first collection of essays representing social psychological perspectives on genocide andthe Holocaust-- prominent social psychologists use the principles derived from contemporary research in their field to try to shed light on the behavior of the perpetrators of genocide. The primary focus of this volume is on the Holocaust, but the conclusions reached have relevance for attempts tounderstand any episode of mass killing. Among the topics covered are how crises and difficult life conditions might set the stage for violent intergroup conflict; why some groups are more likely than others to be selected as scapegoats; how certain cultural values and beliefs could facilitate theinitiation of genocide; the roles of conformity and obedience to authority in shaping behavior; how engaging in violent behavior makes it easier to for one to aggress again; the evidence for a "genocide-prone" personality; and how perpetrators deceive themselves about what they have done. The bookdoes not culminate in a grand theory of intergroup violence; instead, it seeks to provide the reader with new ways of making sense of the horrors of genocide. In other words, the goal of all of the contributorsis to provide us with at least some of the knowledge that we will need to anticipate andprevent future such tragic episodes. The contributors of this volume present an authoritative social psychological account of the Holocaust. This is in keeping with the past 50 years of research into and public interest in genocidal behaviour at both the individual and group levels. Explanatory concepts are developed such as cognitive dissonance, attributional error, and pluralistic ignorance. Contributors xi Introduction 3(8) Christopher R. Browning I. BECOMING A PERPETRATOR The Psychology of Bystanders, Perpetrators, and Heroic Helpers 11(32) Ervin Staub What Is a ``Social-Psychological'' Account of Perpetrator Behavior? The Person Versus the Situation in Goldhagen's Hitler's Willing Executioners 43(25) Leonard S. Newman Authoritarianism and the Holocaust: Some Cognitive and Affective Implications 68(23) Peter Suedfeld Mark Schaller Perperator Behavior as Destructive Obedience: An Evaluation of Stanley Milgram's Perspective the Most Influential Social-Psychological Approach to the Holocaust 91(22) Thomas Blass II. BEYOND THE INDIVIDUAL: GROUPS AND COLLECTIVES Sacrificial Lambs Dressed in Wolves' Clothing: Envious Prejudice, Ideology, and the Scapegoating of Jews 113(30) Peter Glick Group Processes and the Holocaust 143(19) R. Scott Tindale Catherine Munier Michelle Wasserman Christine M. Smith Examining the Implications of Cultural Frames on Social Movements and Group Action 162(26) Daphna Oyserman Armand Lauffer Population and Predators: Preconditions for the Holocaust From a Control-Theoretical Perspective 188(34) Dieter Frey Helmut Rez The Zoomorphism of Human Collective Violence 222(19) R. B. Zajonc III. DEALING WITH EVIL The Holocaust and the Four Roots of Evil 241(18) Roy F. Baumeister Instigators of Genocide: Examining Hitler From a Social-Psychological Perspective 259(26) David R. Mandel Perpetrators With a Clear Conscience: Lying Self-Deception and Belief Change 285(16) Ralph Erber Explaining the Holocaust: Does Social Psychology Exonerate the Perpetrators? 301(24) Arthur G. Miller Amy M. Buddie Jeffrey Kretschmar Epilogue: Social Psychologists Confront the Holocaust 325(22) Leonard S. Newman Ralph Erber Author Index 347(8) General Index 355