How we change what others think, feel, believe and do

Scapegoat Theory

Explanations > Theories > Scapegoat Theory

Description

When problems occur, people do not like to blame themselves. They will thus actively seek scapegoats onto whom we can displace our aggression. These may be out-group individuals or even entire groups. Like bullies, we will often pick on powerless people who cannot easily resist.

Scapegoating increases when people are frustrated and seeking an outlet for their anger.

Once cast as a scapegoat it can be difficult to shake off the classification.

Research

Weatherly (1961) got students frustrated and then asked them to write stories based on given pictures. Where the people in the pictures were given Jewish names, students with anti-Semitic tendencies wrote stories that included aggression towards the Jewish characters.

Example

Jews had been the scapegoat for many people and groups up until the holocaust of World War II. In some communities they are still are used as scapegoats.