Social psychological research has generally assumed that oppressed groups are powerless because t... more Social psychological research has generally assumed that oppressed groups are powerless because they often have less control over resources and outcomes and power is usually defined as dominance or influence and control. We juxtapose this theoretical assumption with lay beliefs about the ingroup's collective power expressed
Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 2023
In the context of military occupation, surveillance is a commonly used tactic to decrease resista... more In the context of military occupation, surveillance is a commonly used tactic to decrease resistance, effectively undermining an oppressed group's sense of solidarity and cohesion. Our study examines how community cohesion-ties to local community-shapes the willingness to engage in nonviolent, civil resistance in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). We examine the psychological processes underpinning the link between community cohesion and civil resistance, and how these processes are affected by the geography of military occupation-the spatial system of Israeli settlements and surveillance infrastructure (checkpoints, the separation barrier, military installations). We address these questions by combining a representative survey of the adult population (N=1000) from 49 communities across the West Bank and Jerusalem with geo-coded data of settlements and the surveillance infrastructure. Our findings show that community cohesion predicts increased willingness to resist directly, and indirectly via perceived community norms of solidarity. Additionally, living in communities closer to settlements or the surveillance infrastructure predicts decreased community cohesion, lower expectations of solidarity with resistance, and less willingness to engage in resistance. Our findings contribute to the literature by demonstrating the role of community cohesion and norms in motivating resistance and depicting how these psychological processes are undermined by the structural conditions of control exercised by military occupation.
Many national or racial majority groups increasingly perceive discrimination against their group,... more Many national or racial majority groups increasingly perceive discrimination against their group, despite objective indicators of advantage. The present studies simultaneously test three individual-level explanations of perceived discrimination among White Americans: system legitimizing beliefs, economic precarity, and group interest, in addition to corresponding predictors at the context (state) level. Using multilevel analysis, we analyzed nationallyrepresentative data from the 2016 American National Election Survey (N = 2631)-an election period marked by discourse about majority group grievances. Results showed that, at the individual level, system-legitimizing beliefs (symbolic racism, conservatism, realistic, and symbolic threat) predicted perceived discrimination among Whites, as did objective (income) and subjective (perceived financial insecurity) economic precarity. Conversely, group interest (indicated by White racial identification) was not a significant predictor. At the state level, support for the Republican candidate also predicted perceived discrimination. These findings replicated with data from the 2012 American National Election Survey (N = 3261). We discuss the implications of White Americans' discrimination claims in the current socio-political climate.
Social psychological research on collective victimhood has focused on just a few ways in which pe... more Social psychological research on collective victimhood has focused on just a few ways in which people think about the ingroup's victimization that imply certain assumptions and limit our understanding of collective victim beliefs. Additionally, different historical and sociopolitical contexts may make different collective victim beliefs relevant. This article examines collective victim beliefs expressed in open-ended survey responses among six different groups: Northern Irish participants, Greek Cypriots, Hungarians, Poles, Jewish Americans, and Armenian Americans (N = 638). Qualitative content analysis revealed five broader categories with several collective victim beliefs each. General appraisals of the ingroup's collective victimization entailed centrality of ingroup victimization versus defocusing victimhood. More specific appraisals included contextspecific characteristics of the ingroup's victimization, perceptions of the perpetrator group (attributions of blame), and perceptions of other victim groups (comparative victim beliefs, including rejecting comparisons). The findings extend and challenge commonly studied collective victim beliefs, and propose novel theoretical directions.
Although many Koreans' attitudes towards Japan are marked by hostility and distrust due to the me... more Although many Koreans' attitudes towards Japan are marked by hostility and distrust due to the memories of Japanese colonization, others have different views on the past and different preferences for dealing with Japan. The current study examines the links between different construals of historical victimization (i.e., collective victim beliefs) and distinct intergroup strategies: collective action demanding apology and reparation from Japan, reconciliation, and retribution. A survey among 249 South Koreans identified four collective victim beliefs: preserving memories and supporting survivors, ingroup fragmentation about how to address the past, grievances concerning historical suffering and perpetrators' denial, and perceived prevalence of ingroup resistance. Grievances concerning historical suffering and present-day denial predicted increased willingness to participate in collective action, desire for retribution, and decreased willingness for reconciliation. Perceived importance of preserving memories and supporting survivors predicted greater willingness to participate in collective action and more desire for retribution. Unexpectedly, perceived ingroup fragmentation and resistance also predicted willingness for reconciliation. Most of the effects of collective victim beliefs on intergroup strategies were mediated by resentment towards the Japanese. Overall, this study expands the literature on collective victimhood in the understudied context of Koreans' collective memories of colonization.
Although our experiences are shaped by multiple social identities such as race, class, and gender... more Although our experiences are shaped by multiple social identities such as race, class, and gender, most research has focused on single-identity groups (e.g., race). This includes research on collective victimization, which assumes that violence impacts group members uniformly. Conversely, work on intersectional consciousness examines awareness of how multiple social identities intersect and create within-group differences. Integrating and expanding the research on intersectional consciousness and on collective victimhood, this article investigates perceived intragroup differences in experiences of victimization stemming from intersecting identities of gender and class among two disadvantaged groups in the understudied context of India. We conducted individual interviews (N = 33) and focus groups (K = 12; N = 66) among Muslims and Dalits (lower-caste Hindus). Thematic analysis revealed that-even though ingroup cohesion (i.e., intragroup similarity) is often enhanced by external threat-people expressed awareness of intragroup differences in experiences of victimization in three distinct ways: highlighting relative privilege, engaging in competitive victimhood, or describing qualitative differences. We discuss the implications for conflict and solidarity within minority groups in the context of political developments in India, where there have been attempts to polarize intragroup divisions.
In G. Elcheroth & N. de Mel (Eds.), In the shadow of transitional justice. Cross-national perspectives on the transformative potential of remembrance. Routledge., 2021
One important step towards rebuilding social relationships between former adversary groups in the... more One important step towards rebuilding social relationships between former adversary groups in the aftermath of collective violence may entail overcoming the mindset that loss and suffering was confined to one's own exclusively defined community. A decade of research (for reviews see Noor et al. 2017; Vollhardt 2009, 2015) has shown how inclusive victim consciousnessthe view that the losses and struggles endured by one's group are similar to those endured by other groupsis linked to support for reconciliation, reparation and prevention of further injustice. Such findings open new perspectives on transitional justice as an inclusive process during which people may discover commonalities in grievances, beyond the boundaries of communities they are conventionally associated with. For example, every year since 2005, many Israeli Jews and Palestinians hold an Alternative Memorial Day event to recognize and support families on both sides who have lost loved ones during the intractable conflict (Corry and Khatib 2019; Shnabel et al. 2017). However, there are also risks associated with overly inclusive narratives that fail to acknowledge power differences and resultant inequalities in experiences between groupsjust as calls for reconciliation and harmony may serve to maintain, rather than to challenge, existing inequalities and power relations and therefore may be more problematic than they appear at the surface level (Dixon et al. 2012; Saguy et al. 2009; see also Chapter 11 in this volume). Accordingly, the meaning and consequences of (seemingly) inclusive victim consciousness can differ depending on the power relations of the groups involved. This chapter addresses both the promises and the pitfalls of inclusive narratives of suffering in transitional justice processes, and emphasizes that inclusive victim beliefs, just like any construal of conflict or of victimization, are used rhetorically to serve specific political or social purposes (McNeill and Vollhardt 2020).
In O. Decker (Ed.), Sozialpsychologie und Sozialtheorie. Wiesbaden, Germany: Springer VS-Verlag., 2018
Das folgende Kapitel gibt einen Ăberblick ĂŒber die sozialpsychologische Friedens-und Konfliktfors... more Das folgende Kapitel gibt einen Ăberblick ĂŒber die sozialpsychologische Friedens-und Konfliktforschung. Es stellt zunĂ€chst den Gegenstandsbereich und einige ausgewĂ€hlte historische Meilensteile vor. AnschlieĂend berichtet es ĂŒber jĂŒngere integrierende Rahmenmodelle auf der Grundlage eher positivistischer Forschung. Es folgen drei konstruktivistische bzw. kritisch-psychologische AnsĂ€tze, und zwar diskurspsychologische, gendertheoretische und befreiungspsychologische. SchlieĂlich geht es in Bezug auf drei beispielhaft ausgewĂ€hlte Themenbereiche stĂ€rker ins Detail: psychologische Aspekte der UnterstĂŒtzung von Krieg und militĂ€rischen Interventionen, die Konstruktion gewaltfreier MĂ€nnlichkeitsvorstellungen im Nachkrieg und radiobasierte Interventionen in Ostafrika. Das Kapitel endet mit einem Ausblick auf mögliche Schwerpunktsetzungen zukĂŒnftiger sozialpsychologischer Friedens-und Konfliktforschung. Definitionen des Gegenstandsbereiches Sozialpsychologische Friedens-und Konfliktforschung 1 befasst sich mit psychologischen Aspekten der Entstehung, der Eskalation und der Bearbeitung von Konflikten zwischen sozialen Gruppen sowie mit den Bedingungen nachhaltigen Friedens .
Social psychological research on relations between oppressed groups has highlighted the role of h... more Social psychological research on relations between oppressed groups has highlighted the role of how people compare their own and other groups' oppression-that is, comparative victim beliefs. However, this research has examined comparative victim beliefs concerning single-identity groups such as ethnicity or religion. Consequently , beliefs regarding experiences of oppression based on multiple intersecting identities (e.g., race, class, and gender)-that is, intersectional consciousness-have been overlooked. Integrating research on comparative victim beliefs and intersectional consciousness, we investigated perceived privilege and oppression linked with peoples' intersecting identities that can inform relations between oppressed communities-specifically, between Dalits (lower castes) and Muslims in the understudied context of India. Thematic analysis of individual interviews (N = 33) and focus groups (K = 12; N = 66) revealed distinct beliefs of differences and commonalities linked with intersectional experiences that can be sources of solidarity or tensions between oppressed groups. Along with making significant theoretical contributions, this research holds important implications for policymakers and activists who aim to forge coalitions between oppressed groups.
Social Psychological and Personality Science , 2021
Whether attitudes towards post-conflict justice and reconciliation are complementary or contradic... more Whether attitudes towards post-conflict justice and reconciliation are complementary or contradictory has been long debated. We posit that the answer to this question is context-dependent. Multilevel analyses of two large-scale surveys among war-affected communities in the former Yugoslavia (total N=11,843), combined with geo-coded data on conflict events, demonstrate that a crucial contextual determinant is the prevalence of asymmetric violence in communities: The more a community was exposed to events of asymmetric violence, which disproportionately affect one group, the more support for justice was linked to rejecting reconciliation. These findings were conceptually replicated with two different data sets and different operationalizations of justice and reconciliation attitudes. Conversely, in one study, the more a community was exposed to symmetric violence, which affects members of all adversary groups, the more justice and reconciliation were perceived as compatible. This study shows the importance of a contextualized approach to understanding intergroup attitudes in post-conflict settings.
Social psychological research has generally assumed that oppressed groups are powerless because t... more Social psychological research has generally assumed that oppressed groups are powerless because they often have less control over resources and outcomes and power is usually defined as dominance or influence and control. We juxtapose this theoretical assumption with lay beliefs about the ingroup's collective power expressed
Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 2023
In the context of military occupation, surveillance is a commonly used tactic to decrease resista... more In the context of military occupation, surveillance is a commonly used tactic to decrease resistance, effectively undermining an oppressed group's sense of solidarity and cohesion. Our study examines how community cohesion-ties to local community-shapes the willingness to engage in nonviolent, civil resistance in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). We examine the psychological processes underpinning the link between community cohesion and civil resistance, and how these processes are affected by the geography of military occupation-the spatial system of Israeli settlements and surveillance infrastructure (checkpoints, the separation barrier, military installations). We address these questions by combining a representative survey of the adult population (N=1000) from 49 communities across the West Bank and Jerusalem with geo-coded data of settlements and the surveillance infrastructure. Our findings show that community cohesion predicts increased willingness to resist directly, and indirectly via perceived community norms of solidarity. Additionally, living in communities closer to settlements or the surveillance infrastructure predicts decreased community cohesion, lower expectations of solidarity with resistance, and less willingness to engage in resistance. Our findings contribute to the literature by demonstrating the role of community cohesion and norms in motivating resistance and depicting how these psychological processes are undermined by the structural conditions of control exercised by military occupation.
Many national or racial majority groups increasingly perceive discrimination against their group,... more Many national or racial majority groups increasingly perceive discrimination against their group, despite objective indicators of advantage. The present studies simultaneously test three individual-level explanations of perceived discrimination among White Americans: system legitimizing beliefs, economic precarity, and group interest, in addition to corresponding predictors at the context (state) level. Using multilevel analysis, we analyzed nationallyrepresentative data from the 2016 American National Election Survey (N = 2631)-an election period marked by discourse about majority group grievances. Results showed that, at the individual level, system-legitimizing beliefs (symbolic racism, conservatism, realistic, and symbolic threat) predicted perceived discrimination among Whites, as did objective (income) and subjective (perceived financial insecurity) economic precarity. Conversely, group interest (indicated by White racial identification) was not a significant predictor. At the state level, support for the Republican candidate also predicted perceived discrimination. These findings replicated with data from the 2012 American National Election Survey (N = 3261). We discuss the implications of White Americans' discrimination claims in the current socio-political climate.
Social psychological research on collective victimhood has focused on just a few ways in which pe... more Social psychological research on collective victimhood has focused on just a few ways in which people think about the ingroup's victimization that imply certain assumptions and limit our understanding of collective victim beliefs. Additionally, different historical and sociopolitical contexts may make different collective victim beliefs relevant. This article examines collective victim beliefs expressed in open-ended survey responses among six different groups: Northern Irish participants, Greek Cypriots, Hungarians, Poles, Jewish Americans, and Armenian Americans (N = 638). Qualitative content analysis revealed five broader categories with several collective victim beliefs each. General appraisals of the ingroup's collective victimization entailed centrality of ingroup victimization versus defocusing victimhood. More specific appraisals included contextspecific characteristics of the ingroup's victimization, perceptions of the perpetrator group (attributions of blame), and perceptions of other victim groups (comparative victim beliefs, including rejecting comparisons). The findings extend and challenge commonly studied collective victim beliefs, and propose novel theoretical directions.
Although many Koreans' attitudes towards Japan are marked by hostility and distrust due to the me... more Although many Koreans' attitudes towards Japan are marked by hostility and distrust due to the memories of Japanese colonization, others have different views on the past and different preferences for dealing with Japan. The current study examines the links between different construals of historical victimization (i.e., collective victim beliefs) and distinct intergroup strategies: collective action demanding apology and reparation from Japan, reconciliation, and retribution. A survey among 249 South Koreans identified four collective victim beliefs: preserving memories and supporting survivors, ingroup fragmentation about how to address the past, grievances concerning historical suffering and perpetrators' denial, and perceived prevalence of ingroup resistance. Grievances concerning historical suffering and present-day denial predicted increased willingness to participate in collective action, desire for retribution, and decreased willingness for reconciliation. Perceived importance of preserving memories and supporting survivors predicted greater willingness to participate in collective action and more desire for retribution. Unexpectedly, perceived ingroup fragmentation and resistance also predicted willingness for reconciliation. Most of the effects of collective victim beliefs on intergroup strategies were mediated by resentment towards the Japanese. Overall, this study expands the literature on collective victimhood in the understudied context of Koreans' collective memories of colonization.
Although our experiences are shaped by multiple social identities such as race, class, and gender... more Although our experiences are shaped by multiple social identities such as race, class, and gender, most research has focused on single-identity groups (e.g., race). This includes research on collective victimization, which assumes that violence impacts group members uniformly. Conversely, work on intersectional consciousness examines awareness of how multiple social identities intersect and create within-group differences. Integrating and expanding the research on intersectional consciousness and on collective victimhood, this article investigates perceived intragroup differences in experiences of victimization stemming from intersecting identities of gender and class among two disadvantaged groups in the understudied context of India. We conducted individual interviews (N = 33) and focus groups (K = 12; N = 66) among Muslims and Dalits (lower-caste Hindus). Thematic analysis revealed that-even though ingroup cohesion (i.e., intragroup similarity) is often enhanced by external threat-people expressed awareness of intragroup differences in experiences of victimization in three distinct ways: highlighting relative privilege, engaging in competitive victimhood, or describing qualitative differences. We discuss the implications for conflict and solidarity within minority groups in the context of political developments in India, where there have been attempts to polarize intragroup divisions.
In G. Elcheroth & N. de Mel (Eds.), In the shadow of transitional justice. Cross-national perspectives on the transformative potential of remembrance. Routledge., 2021
One important step towards rebuilding social relationships between former adversary groups in the... more One important step towards rebuilding social relationships between former adversary groups in the aftermath of collective violence may entail overcoming the mindset that loss and suffering was confined to one's own exclusively defined community. A decade of research (for reviews see Noor et al. 2017; Vollhardt 2009, 2015) has shown how inclusive victim consciousnessthe view that the losses and struggles endured by one's group are similar to those endured by other groupsis linked to support for reconciliation, reparation and prevention of further injustice. Such findings open new perspectives on transitional justice as an inclusive process during which people may discover commonalities in grievances, beyond the boundaries of communities they are conventionally associated with. For example, every year since 2005, many Israeli Jews and Palestinians hold an Alternative Memorial Day event to recognize and support families on both sides who have lost loved ones during the intractable conflict (Corry and Khatib 2019; Shnabel et al. 2017). However, there are also risks associated with overly inclusive narratives that fail to acknowledge power differences and resultant inequalities in experiences between groupsjust as calls for reconciliation and harmony may serve to maintain, rather than to challenge, existing inequalities and power relations and therefore may be more problematic than they appear at the surface level (Dixon et al. 2012; Saguy et al. 2009; see also Chapter 11 in this volume). Accordingly, the meaning and consequences of (seemingly) inclusive victim consciousness can differ depending on the power relations of the groups involved. This chapter addresses both the promises and the pitfalls of inclusive narratives of suffering in transitional justice processes, and emphasizes that inclusive victim beliefs, just like any construal of conflict or of victimization, are used rhetorically to serve specific political or social purposes (McNeill and Vollhardt 2020).
In O. Decker (Ed.), Sozialpsychologie und Sozialtheorie. Wiesbaden, Germany: Springer VS-Verlag., 2018
Das folgende Kapitel gibt einen Ăberblick ĂŒber die sozialpsychologische Friedens-und Konfliktfors... more Das folgende Kapitel gibt einen Ăberblick ĂŒber die sozialpsychologische Friedens-und Konfliktforschung. Es stellt zunĂ€chst den Gegenstandsbereich und einige ausgewĂ€hlte historische Meilensteile vor. AnschlieĂend berichtet es ĂŒber jĂŒngere integrierende Rahmenmodelle auf der Grundlage eher positivistischer Forschung. Es folgen drei konstruktivistische bzw. kritisch-psychologische AnsĂ€tze, und zwar diskurspsychologische, gendertheoretische und befreiungspsychologische. SchlieĂlich geht es in Bezug auf drei beispielhaft ausgewĂ€hlte Themenbereiche stĂ€rker ins Detail: psychologische Aspekte der UnterstĂŒtzung von Krieg und militĂ€rischen Interventionen, die Konstruktion gewaltfreier MĂ€nnlichkeitsvorstellungen im Nachkrieg und radiobasierte Interventionen in Ostafrika. Das Kapitel endet mit einem Ausblick auf mögliche Schwerpunktsetzungen zukĂŒnftiger sozialpsychologischer Friedens-und Konfliktforschung. Definitionen des Gegenstandsbereiches Sozialpsychologische Friedens-und Konfliktforschung 1 befasst sich mit psychologischen Aspekten der Entstehung, der Eskalation und der Bearbeitung von Konflikten zwischen sozialen Gruppen sowie mit den Bedingungen nachhaltigen Friedens .
Social psychological research on relations between oppressed groups has highlighted the role of h... more Social psychological research on relations between oppressed groups has highlighted the role of how people compare their own and other groups' oppression-that is, comparative victim beliefs. However, this research has examined comparative victim beliefs concerning single-identity groups such as ethnicity or religion. Consequently , beliefs regarding experiences of oppression based on multiple intersecting identities (e.g., race, class, and gender)-that is, intersectional consciousness-have been overlooked. Integrating research on comparative victim beliefs and intersectional consciousness, we investigated perceived privilege and oppression linked with peoples' intersecting identities that can inform relations between oppressed communities-specifically, between Dalits (lower castes) and Muslims in the understudied context of India. Thematic analysis of individual interviews (N = 33) and focus groups (K = 12; N = 66) revealed distinct beliefs of differences and commonalities linked with intersectional experiences that can be sources of solidarity or tensions between oppressed groups. Along with making significant theoretical contributions, this research holds important implications for policymakers and activists who aim to forge coalitions between oppressed groups.
Social Psychological and Personality Science , 2021
Whether attitudes towards post-conflict justice and reconciliation are complementary or contradic... more Whether attitudes towards post-conflict justice and reconciliation are complementary or contradictory has been long debated. We posit that the answer to this question is context-dependent. Multilevel analyses of two large-scale surveys among war-affected communities in the former Yugoslavia (total N=11,843), combined with geo-coded data on conflict events, demonstrate that a crucial contextual determinant is the prevalence of asymmetric violence in communities: The more a community was exposed to events of asymmetric violence, which disproportionately affect one group, the more support for justice was linked to rejecting reconciliation. These findings were conceptually replicated with two different data sets and different operationalizations of justice and reconciliation attitudes. Conversely, in one study, the more a community was exposed to symmetric violence, which affects members of all adversary groups, the more justice and reconciliation were perceived as compatible. This study shows the importance of a contextualized approach to understanding intergroup attitudes in post-conflict settings.
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