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6. SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORY OF MASS COMMUNICATION 133

unless they are activated, and there are many processes by which moral
reactions can be disengaged from inhumane conduct (Bandura, 1991b,
1999b). Selective activation and disengagement of internal control permits
different types of conduct with the same moral standards. Fig. 6.3 shows
the points in the self-regulatory process at which moral control can be dis-
engaged from censurable conduct.
One set of disengagement practices operates on the construal of the
behavior itself by moral justification. People do not ordinarily engage in
reprehensible conduct until they have justified to themselves the morality
of their actions. What is culpable is made personally and socially accept-
able by portraying it in the service of moral purposes. Moral justification
is widely used to support self-serving and otherwise culpable conduct.
Moral judgments of conduct are also partly influenced by what it is com-
pared against. Self-deplored acts can be made benign or honorable by
contrasting them with more flagrant transgressions. Because examples of
human culpability abound, they lend themselves readily to cognitive
restructuring of transgressive conduct by such advantageous comparison.
Activities can take on a very different appearance depending on what
they are called. Sanitizing euphemistic labeling provides another conve-
nient device for masking reprehensible activities or even conferring a
respectable status on them. Through convoluted verbiage, reprehensible
conduct is made benign and those who engage in it are relieved of a sense
of personal agency.
Cognitive restructuring of behavior through moral justifications and
palliative characterizations is the most effective psychological mechanism
for promoting transgressive conduct. This is because moral restructuring
not only eliminates self-deterrents but also engages self-approval in the
service of transgressive exploits. What was once morally condemnable
becomes a source of self-valuation.
Ball-Rokeach (1972) attaches special significance to evaluative reac-
tions and social justifications presented in the media, particularly in con-
flicts of power. This is because relatively few viewers experience sufficient
inducement to use the aggressive strategies they have seen, but the trans-
mitted justifications and evaluations can help to mobilize public support
for policy actions favoring either social control or social change. The justi-
ficatory changes can have widespread social and political ramifications.
The mass media, especially television, provide the best access to the
public through its strong drawing power. For this reason, television is
increasingly used as the principle vehicle of justification. Struggles to legit-
imize and gain support for one’s values and causes and to discredit those
of one’s opponents are now waged more and more through the electronic
media (Ball- Rokeach, 1972; Bandura, 1990; Bassiouni, 1981). Because of its
potential influence, the communication system itself is subject to constant