Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2013 Apr;39(4):470-81. doi: 10.1177/0146167213477891. Epub 2013 Feb 13.
Clinical evidence demonstrates that killing among soldiers at war predicts their experience of long-lasting trauma/distress. Killing leads to distress, in part, due to guilt experienced from violating moral standards. Because social consensus shapes what actions are perceived as moral and just, we hypothesized that social validation for killing would reduce guilt, whereas social invalidation would exacerbate it. To examine this possibility in a laboratory setting, participants were led to kill bugs in an "extermination task." Perceptions of social validation/invalidation were manipulated through the supposed actions of a confederate (Study 1) or numerous previous participants (Study 2) that agreed or refused to kill bugs. Distress measures focused on trauma-related guilt. Higher levels of distress were observed when individuals perceived their actions as invalidated as opposed to when they perceived their actions as socially validated. Implications for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experienced by soldiers and the paradoxical nature of publicly expressing antiwar sentiments are discussed.
临床证据表明，战争中士兵之间的杀戮行为预示着他们会长期经历创伤和痛苦。杀戮会导致痛苦，部分原因是违反道德标准而产生的内疚感。由于社会共识塑造了人们对道德和正义行为的看法，我们假设，对杀戮行为的社会认可会减轻内疚感，而社会否定则会加剧这种内疚感。为了在实验室环境中检验这种可能性，参与者被要求在“消灭任务”中杀死虫子。通过假设的同伙（研究 1）或许多先前参与者（研究 2）的行为来操纵对社会认可/否定的感知，这些同伙同意或拒绝杀死虫子。创伤相关内疚感是痛苦的衡量标准。当个人认为自己的行为被否定时，他们会感到比被社会认可时更高程度的痛苦。本文还讨论了士兵经历创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）的问题，以及公开表达反战情绪的自相矛盾性质。
