What happened to morality? Is it gone or is it suspended?

WHAT IS MORALITY?

Morality is the principles that are taken as basis in evaluating behaviors as appropriate or inappropriate, the belief system or set of values ​​related to correct behavior. At this point, morality deals with the right-wrong, good-bad behaviors of individuals in social life , the rules in interpersonal relationships, fair behavior patterns and social norms. Moral attitude is an almost mandatory compromise that is inherently structural in human nature, is well-established through learning and socialization, and consists of behaviors necessary for the order of social life and our existence. So, although morality is one of the characteristics that make a person human, how come moral attitudes are set aside and behaviors such as theft, abuse, mistreatment, bribery, forgery, deception, etc. can occur, primarily harming other people.

HOW DOES MORALITY CORRUPT?

One of the most explanatory theories in terms of understanding the psychological dimension of this situation is the theory of Moral Disengagement , developed by the famous cognitive behavioral psychologist Albert Bandura. According to Bandura, even individuals who are normally loving, compassionate, and committed to moral values ​​can become complicit in serious ethical violations or even horrific crimes when certain psychological mechanisms come into play. This theory helps us understand the ways in which individuals legitimize their own behaviors and how they distance themselves from moral responsibility.

WHAT IS MORAL BREAK?

According to the theory of moral disengagement, people regulate their behaviors through the moral standards they develop throughout their lives. Under normal conditions, this internal control mechanism allows people to avoid harmful behaviors. However, in the case of moral disengagement (i.e., suspending them), this internal control is temporarily disabled and the person may exhibit behaviors that they would not normally accept. Moral disengagement does not mean that the person completely abandons their moral values, but rather that they selectively suspend the influence of these values ​​in certain situations. This process usually occurs automatically and the person uses various cognitive methods to legitimize their behavior.

EIGHT MECHANISM OF THE SUSPENSION OF MORALS

This theory proposed that moral disengagement occurs through eight primary mechanisms:

1. Moral Justification

In this mechanism, harmful behaviors are legitimized by the claim that they serve sublime moral values. A student who cheats on an exam defends his behavior by saying, "Everyone cheats anyway, if I hadn't, others would have gotten higher grades than me. My home environment is not conducive to studying, there is no equality of opportunity, I am acting to ensure equality of opportunity by cheating."

2. Covert Labeling

Harmful actions are expressed in softer, more pleasant terms that disguise their true nature. For example, wars or terrorist attacks are called “enforcement of justice” or “punishment of evil” while civilian deaths are considered a “necessity” or “collateral damage.”

3. Comparison with Evil

The person or group tries to make their own harmful behavior seem relatively innocent by comparing it to worse examples. A company executive illegally dumped environmentally harmful waste into a stream. When questioned about this action, they defend themselves by saying, "Yes, maybe what we did was wrong, but at least we don't openly dump toxic chemicals into the sea like Company X. What they do is much worse than what we do."

4. Transferring Responsibility

The responsibility for harmful behavior is attributed to superiors, superiors, orders, or external circumstances. A parent learns that their child is bullying another child at school. When speaking to the teacher, they place the responsibility on the school or the teacher by saying, "My child is behaving this way because the teacher is not paying enough attention to him and there is no discipline at school. I taught him everything, it is not my fault."

5. Dilution of liability

In harmful behaviors carried out in groups, responsibility is distributed among group members, reducing individual feelings of guilt. For example, in a workplace, the deadline for an important project is approaching and everyone in the team realizes that the project is not progressing. However, no one takes the initiative and takes action to correct the situation. Everyone thinks to themselves, "It's not just my responsibility anyway, others will do something too" or "There are many people on the team, someone will definitely take care of it." In the end, the project is not completed and failure occurs.

6. Distorting or Ignoring Results

The real harm caused by harmful behavior is minimized, distorted, or completely ignored. A factory discharges its waste directly into a stream without passing it through a treatment plant in order to reduce production costs. When environmental inspectors come, the factory owner minimizes or completely denies the potential negative consequences of his actions, saying, "This waste doesn't cause that much harm to the environment. After all, running water doesn't collect dirt and cleans itself, so what's the point of so little waste? They're exaggerating."

7. Dehumanization

Victims are seen as non-human beings, thus normalizing harmful behaviors against them. For example, on social media platforms, those who spread hate speech about members of a particular ethnic or religious group disregard their human dignity and rights by labeling them with derogatory terms such as “terrorists,” “parasites,” or “filth.” In this way, discrimination, threats of violence, or real-life acts of abuse against that group are legitimized in the eyes of the spreaders.

8. Blaming the Victim

The cause and responsibility for the harmful behavior is placed on the victim. For example, in cases of violence against women in our country, the defenses that perpetrators often resort to are statements that blame the victim, such as "She made me angry", "She didn't cook", "She didn't listen", "She was unfaithful", "She cheated on me", "She insulted".

WHAT TO DO?

A more moral world will be more beautiful, more livable and happier. Understanding how evil works is an essential step to stopping it and building a more peaceful, better, more just and more ethical world.

Psychological science tells us that evil is often fueled not by monstrous intentions, but by the almost unconscious, silent suspension of one’s own internal moral control by ordinary people. By being alert to these mechanisms, we can come to light together by realizing that each person’s moral behavior is the best path for both themselves and humanity. Otherwise, unfortunately, we will continue to struggle in the dark and deceive ourselves with small temporary gains.