Abstract

CANTO, Jesús M  and  VALLEJO-MARTIN, Macarena. Revisiting the concept of the banality of evil from the perspective of identity leadership. Escritos de Psicología [online]. 2020, vol.13, n.1, pp.34-45.  Epub Sep 20, 2021. ISSN 1989-3809.  https://dx.doi.org/10.24310/espsiescpsi.v13i1.10080.

The concept of the banality of evil has been used to explain human evil. This concept has been very influential in social psychology and in the other social sciences. Empirical support for this concept has been provided by the results obtained in the Milgram experiments on obedience and in the Stanford prison experiment (SPE), among others. However, it has received relevant criticism from the disciplines of history and social psychology. Reanalysis of the Milgram and EPE studies does not support the classic theoretical formulations offered by Milgram and Zimbardo. A different theoretical explanatory model of the results is needed in the light of variations in the levels of obedience in Milgram's experiments and in the behaviour of the guards and prisoners in the SPE. Framed within the perspective of social identity theory, Haslam and Reicher proposed that the role of identity leadership is a key concept to explain the results obtained in these studies.

Keywords : agency; obedience; role; leadership; social identity.

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