Introduction

Professionals such as Baumeister (1997), Bloom (2013), Miller (1999), Simon Baron-Cohen (2011), Staub (1989), Waller (2002), Zimbardo (1995), and others sparked interest in the scientific research of “EVIL’S PSYCHOLOGY” a few years ago.

Although interest in the study of evil was generally limited to exceptional cases of serial killers or brutal crimes, after World War II, a contentious experiment attempting to understand the causes or motives that led to the annihilation of millions of people over the last century simply because they belonged to a certain type of religious group changed the course of our understanding.

This experiment gained international attention as one of the most popular in the history of psychology, leading to the publication of Dr. STANLEY MILGRAM’s 1978 best-selling book “Obedience to Authority.” The author attempted to investigate how civilized people could engage in destructive, inhuman acts. How could the Nazi Genocide have been carried out so methodically and efficiently? In other words, he was researching Evil’s Psychology.

Present Day

But there was another, deeper, and more serious reason for the increased interest in this subject in our current society. The reason for this, in my opinion, is that the psychopathology we are currently dealing with differs greatly from that defined by clinical psychologists at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Dr. MARTIN E. P. SELIGMAN, former president of the “American Association of Psychology (APA)” in the United States, explains further:

… After a detour through the hedonism of the 1960s, the narcissism of the 1970s, the materialism of the 1980s, and the apathy of the 1990s, most everyone today seems to believe that character is important after all and that the United States is facing a character crisis on many fronts, from the playground to the classroom to the sports arena to the Hollywood screen to business corporations to politics. According to a 1999 survey by Public Agenda, adults in the United States cited “not learning values” as the most important problem facing today’s youth. Notably, in the public’s view, drugs and violence trailed the absence of character as pressing problems.

Seligman, 2004, p.6.

In other words, Dr. Seligman is telling us that we are currently experiencing a “character crisis” that is affecting all sectors of society and is linked to the failure to learn “values.”

Dr. GEORGE K. SIMON, a clinical psychologist, came to the same conclusion regarding the current character crisis when he wrote:

… When you seriously examine our most pressing social problems, whether political, interpersonal, occupational, or even economic, the problems can eventually be traced to impaired individual responsibility. Like it or not, character matters. It affects everything we do, and character-deficiency lies at the root of many woes we face. Even the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression was mostly caused by the greed, dishonesty, and irresponsibility of a handful of character-deficient bankers and executives.

Simon, 2011, p.246.

As a result, this crisis of character or character deficiencies, which we call “Bad Character,” in our colloquial way of speaking and thinking, is closely related to the concept of Evil or Evil’s Psychology, which is the subject of this book.

What is the psychological theory of evil?

Following that, we will look at the various definitions of evil used by psychologists:

According to Dr. Ervin Staub:

… It is most appropriate to talk of evil when all these defining elements are present: intensely harmful actions, which are not commensurate with instigating conditions, and the persistence or repetition of such actions. A series of actions also can be evil when any one act causes limited harm, but with repetition, these acts cause great harm.

Staub, 1999, p. 180.

In accordance with Dr. Philip Zimbardo:

Evil consists in intentionally behaving in ways that harm, abuse, demean, dehumanize, or destroy innocent others—or using one’s authority and systemic power to encourage or permit others to do so on your behalf.

Zimbardo, 2007, p. 5.

In the words of Dr. Roy Baumeister:

“The prototypes of human evil involve actions that intentionally harm other people”.

Baumeister, 1999, Posición en Kindle 260.

Certain concepts are implicit in each of these definitions, so we will state them explicitly for the reader’s convenience.

• All definitions identify “men” as the villains. As insignificant as it may appear, our definition excludes “natural disasters” and “epidemics” as forms of evil.
• When discussing “evil,” all definitions include human actions or deliberate intentions on the part of someone. This assumes the individual is “aware” of his actions. That is, all cases in which there is no consciousness, such as in psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia, where the person may be hallucinating, or in severe intoxication of substances that cause states of transitory unconsciousness, such as drug use that alters the senses and consciousness, are ruled out.
• Furthermore, by employing the concept of “intention,” each author implies that they do not include in their definition of evil damages caused “accidentally” or “unintentionally.”
• Finally, none of these definitions address the issue of evil’s “magnitude.” As a result, the concept encompasses everything from minor cruelty to the most heinous and terrifying crimes.

New definition of Evil‘s Psychology

While these definitions focus on different aspects of evil, I believe none of them shed light on the fundamental strategy employed by evil: intentional cognitive planning. For these reasons, my thesis is that “Evil” employs DELIBERATE COGNITIVE STRATEGIES to inflict all manner of harm on its victims. As a result, whenever I refer to evil, I will use the following definition:

“Evil is the use of deliberate cognitive dominance strategies with the goal of deceiving (lie, cheat), harming (cause detriment, detriment, pain), mistreating (harass, humiliate, dehumanize) and/or injuring (hurt or destroy) physical, psychological, and/or socially (ruining the reputation, career, status, or social position), in a repeated manner to their victims, either through their own power and/or systemic power by encouraging or allowing others to do so on their behalf.”

Cáceres, 2021. p34.

Definitions

Following that, I will explain each concept that involves this definition of evil:

• DELIBERATE because it is a voluntary, intentional, or purposeful act.
• COGNITIVE refers to anything related to or related to thought.
• DOMINANCE because it refers to power exercised over another person.
• STRATEGY implies prior planning, that is, there is a devised plan that is expected to achieve a specific goal.
• DECEIVE, DAMAGE, ABUSE, and INJURE because they represent various methods of attacking others.
• REPEATEDLY, because it will not be considered evil if its target is a single victim, but rather if there are multiple victims.
• SYSTEMIC POWER because they not only use their own powers but also those of others to carry out their plans, such as the creation and spread of malicious rumors.

If we assert that evil is the willful application of cognitive strategies, we must first consider our understanding of humanity from an epistemological perspective before delving into the specifics of these strategies.

Source:

Cáceres, D. (2023) Evil’s Psychology. Dunken Editorial.