Moral Disengagement:

Moral disengagement justifies or excuses actions people would otherwise consider wrong, harmful, violating moral standards, without guilt or remorse. Understanding moral disengagement is crucial to address unethical behavior, aggression, schoolyard bullying, workplace misconduct, and political wrongs. Research suggests narcissism positively correlates with moral disengagement AND antisocial behavior, indicating those with narcissistic traits are more likely to justify behaviors that harm others — like lying about cheating  as protecting their spouse from being hurt. When narcissists don’t understand or care about others’ feelings, they are less likely to be motivated by moral considerations and can manipulate others that way. Some research suggests moral disengagement mediates (mutually influences) the relationship between narcissism and moral hypocrisy — narcissists engage in hypocritical behavior because they’re able to disengage from moral considerations. Psychologist Albert Bandura identified eight mechanisms that facilitate moral disengagement:

• Advantageous comparison of actions to more egregious behaviors, making them seem less harmful.
• Attribution of blame to the victim for their own misfortune, distancing themselves from responsibility. “They brought it on themselves,” or “It’s their own fault.” 
• Dehumanization by seeing others as lesser beings, making it easier to justify harmful behaviors.
• Diffusion of responsibility among a group, reducing individual accountability.
• Displacement of responsibility for actions to external forces or authorities, reducing individual accountability. “I was following orders,” or “My boss made me do it.”
• Distortion of consequences by minimizing or ignoring them, making actions seem less harmful.
• Euphemistic labeling by sanitizing or neutralizing language to make harmful actions seem less severe or unethical.
• Moral justification of actions as noble and morally acceptable, seeing themselves as superior or deserving of special treatment — and minimizing the impact of their behaviors on others.