On positive psychological outcomes: what helps groups with a history of conflict to forgive and reconcile with each other?

Three studies examined the roles of traditional and novel social psychological variables involved in intergroup forgiveness. Study 1 (N = 480) revealed that among the pro-Pinochet and the anti-Pinochet groups in Chile, forgiveness was predicted by ingroup identity (negatively), common ingroup identity (positively), empathy and trust (positively), and competitive victimhood (the subjective sense of having suffered more than the outgroup, negatively). Political ideology (Right vs. Left) moderated the relationship between empathy and forgiveness, trust and forgiveness, and between the latter and competitive victimhood. Study 2 (N = 309), set in the Northern Irish conflict between Protestants and Catholics, provided a replication and extension of Study 1. Finally, Study 3 (N = 155/108) examined the longitudinal relationship between forgiveness and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, revealing that forgiveness predicted reconciliation intentions. The reverse direction of this relationship was also marginally significant. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical and practical implications.     

No War, No Peace: Northern Ireland after the Agreement

In 1998 a historic agreement, commonly known as the Belfast or Good Friday Agreement, formed the basis of a negotiated settlement for the future of Northern Ireland. Since that time the level of violence in Northern Ireland has reduced but many problematic issues related to governance, sectarianism, and community relations remain on the political agenda and have destabilized the post-peace accord environment. Many of these issues can be viewed as either causes or consequences of the protracted conflict in Northern Ireland. This special issue examines some of these issues from a political psychology perspective. Economic, political, social, and psychological factors that have supported and hindered progress towards peace and stability are considered. While the paramilitary ceasefires have remained intact and certain aspects of life in Northern Ireland have been transformed, the road to peace has been hindered by both political and psychological intransigence. This paper offers an opportunity to reevaluate conceptualisations of conflict and its management in chronic situations, where divisions are deeply embedded within societal structures and relationships, and consider factors that may act as barriers to the development of a lasting peace.     

Impact of Conflict on Mental Health in Northern Ireland: The Mediating Role of Intergroup Forgiveness and Collective Guilt

The aim of the present research was to investigate the mediating role of group-level forgiveness and guilt in the relationship between victimhood (the extent to which the conflict affected an individual's life), exposure to violence (the level of violence in their area of residence), and group identity on the one hand, and mild psychiatric morbidity on the other. Specifically the study focused on the psychological impact of the ethnopolitical conflict in Northern Ireland, utilizing people's identification with either the Catholic or Protestant community. Our results revealed that intergroup forgiveness mediated the relationship between both victimhood and group identification, as predictors, and mild psychiatric morbidity. Collective guilt, on the other hand, mediated the relationship between both exposure to violence and group identification, as predictors, and intergroup forgiveness. Overall this study shows that forgiveness and collective guilt can act as mediators in the relationship between impact of ethnopolitical conflict and mental health, at the group level, and thus demonstrates their centrality to the reconciliation process. Implications for intergroup reconciliation initiatives in Northern Ireland are discussed.     

Predictors of Strength of In‐Group Identity in Northern Ireland: Impact of Past Sectarian Conflict,Relative Deprivation,and Church Attendance

Social identity in Northern Ireland is multifaceted, with historical, religious, political, social, economic, and psychological underpinnings. Understanding the factors that influence the strength of identity with the Protestant or Catholic community, the two predominate social groups in Northern Ireland, has implications for individual well‐being as well as for the continuation of tension and violence in this setting of protracted intergroup conflict. This study examined predictors of the strength of in‐group identity in 692 women (mean age 37 years) in post‐accord Northern Ireland. For Catholics, strength of in‐group identity was positively linked to past negative impact of sectarian conflict and more frequent current church attendance, whereas for Protestants, strength of in‐group identity was related to greater status satisfaction regarding access to jobs, standard of living, and political power compared with Catholics; that is, those who felt less relative deprivation. The discussion considers the differences in the factors underlying stronger identity for Protestants and Catholics in this context. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Psychocultural Interpretations and Dramas: Identity Dynamics in Ethnic Conflict

Ethnic identity connects individuals through perceived common past experiences and expectations of shared future ones. Identity is concerned with group judgments and judgments about groups and their motives. This article explores identity through the case of Loyal Order Protestant parades in Northern Ireland and the concepts of psychocultural interpretations (shared, deeply held worldviews found in group narratives) and psychocultural dramas (conflicts over competing, and apparently irresolvable, claims that engage the central elements of a group's historical experience). Psychocultural dramas are polarizing events whose manifest content involves non-negotiable cultural claims, threats, and/or rights that become important because of their connections to core metaphors and group narratives that embody a group's identity. In ethnic conflicts, psychocultural dramas arise over competing claims that evoke deeply rooted dimensions of the conflict which cannot be settled by reference to more general rules or higher authority. Psychocultural dramas are tools of analysis for understanding the centrality of cultural identity and ritual in ethnic conflict and for the redefinition of such conflicts in ways that increase the chances for managing them constructively. Examining the psychocultural dramas surrounding parades disputes in Northern Ireland suggests why and how some conflicts are more amenable to constructive outcomes than others.     

Cooperative and Conflictual Policy Preferences: The Effect of Identity, Security, and Image of the Other

What is the connection between identity and conflict behavior? This article begins by exploring some of the theoretical currents in this area, notably social identity theory, Erikson's work on identity development, Burton's ontological needs, and image theory. The theories differ somewhat in their expectations of the effect of identity development. Two studies were conducted to investigate these differences. The first, a priming experiment, partitioned identity and its effects. The second, a group-based simulation study, measured actual development of ingroup identity and assessed its effect on conflict behavior. Results from the first study show that identity does affect conflict behavior, but only as it is mediated by levels of insecurity. Increased feelings of security correspond to more cooperative behavior. Positive and negative images of the opponent, on the other hand, did not influence conflict behavior. In the second study, higher levels of ingroup identity resulted in more conflictual behavior. As with the first study, image of the other was not significantly related to conflict behavior.     

Religious and National Identity after the Belfast Good Friday Agreement

National and religious identification processes can be seen as the basis of the conflict in Northern Ireland, and over the course of the conflict preferred social and political identities became increasingly oppositional and entrenched. This paper reviews this evidence using population-level studies of self-categorized national and religious identity. In an attempt to explore the bases of these identities, two interrelated qualitative studies examining the constructions of national and religious identification are reported. The findings presented suggest the continuing predominance of national and religious identities that have generally been constructed as opposing. Evidence of complete overlap of the identities is evidenced in conflation of religion and nationality in adolescents' essays. Theoretical sampling of adults living on the border between Northern Ireland, the republic of Ireland, and those in mixed marriages highlight the strategic use of national and religious identities that may act to support divisions in post-Agreement Northern Ireland.     

Group membership, strength of group identification and perceptions of violence for locations in Northern Ireland

118 undergraduate students, all of Northern Irish origin, were asked to rate 60 locations in Northern Ireland for violence and denominational composition. As expected from Social Identity Theory, subjects perceived ingroup locations as less violent than outgroup ones. Contrary to expectations, however, there was no increased differentiation of violence judgements with increasing strength of identity, for which two possible explanations were considered.     

From Intractable Conflict Through Conflict Resolution To Reconciliation: Psychological Analysis

Intractable intergroup conflicts require the formation of a conflictive ethos that enables a society to adapt to the conflict situation, survive the stressful period, and struggle successfully with the adversary. The formal termination of such a conflict begins with the elimination of the perceived incompatibility between the opposing parties through negotiation by their representatives—that is, a conflict resolution process. But this is only part of the long-term reconciliation process, which requires the formation of peaceful relations based on mutual trust and acceptance, cooperation, and consideration of mutual needs. The psychological aspect of reconciliation requires a change in the conflictive ethos, especially with respect to societal beliefs about group goals, about the adversary group, about the ingroup, about intergroup relations, and about the nature of peace. In essence, psychological reconciliation requires the formation of an ethos of peace, but this is extremely difficult in cases of intractable conflict. Political psychologists can and should work to improve the state of knowledge about reconciliation,which until now has received much less attention than conflict resolution.     

Political Violence and Psychological Well-Being: The Role of Social Identity

A significant body of research points to the central role of identity in creating and maintaining conflict. However, less research has focused on the protective role of social identity in such situations. Using a survey sample of 3,000 participants, 2,000 of whom were resident in a conflict-affected region (Northern Ireland) and 1,000 in a region more distally affected (the Border counties of the Republic of Ireland) the potential moderating and mediating impact of national identification on the relationship between direct and indirect experience of political violence and psychological well-being is examined. Findings indicate that national identification mediates the impact of direct political violence on well-being in Northern Ireland. This relationship is strongest where preferred nationality is relevant to the social division underlying the conflict. Those more distally affected, resident in the Republic of Ireland, did not evidence this pattern of relationships. Discussion of results focuses on the potential positive and negative implications of these findings for personal and societal well-being, respectively.     

Perceptions of Dual Identity and Separate Groups Among Secular and Religious Israeli Jews

Abstract

The authors examined the effects of perceptions of dual identity and separate groups on tendencies to handle intergroup conflict through problem solving and contention. Among secular Israeli Jews, regression analyses revealed a significant interaction between perceptions of dual identity and perceptions of separate groups: Only under high perception of dual identity was the perception of separate groups associated with contention. Among religious Israeli Jews, problem solving and contention were unrelated to either dual identity or to perceptions of separate groups. The results are discussed in terms of the common ingroup identity model (S. L. Gaertner, M. C. Rust, J. F. Dovidio, B. A. Bachman, & R A. Anastasio, 1994) and in the context of the conflict between religious and secular Jews in Israel.     

A Disparity of Esteem: Relative Group Status in Northern Ireland after the Belfast Agreement

Using the case of a deeply divided society (Northern Ireland) in the aftermath of a major peace accord, this article combines two methodological approaches to assess the public reception of the peace accord and its impact on intergroup competition. The social psychological concept of esteem (central to social identity theory) and time-series data are used to assess intergroup relations between Protestant-unionists and Catholic-nationalists in Northern Ireland in the wake of the 1998 peace accord. By illustrating the disparity of esteem between the two main politico-religious groups, the article indicates early settlement weakness. Moreover, it suggests a conceptual approach that may be applicable to the study of intergroup competitions in other divided societies.     

Conflict Transformation: Relinquishing or Maintaining Social Identity Among Former Loyalist Combatants in Northern Ireland

This study explored the accounts of former loyalist combatants now involved in conflict transformation, preventing violent extremism and peace-building work. To understand how former loyalist combatants negotiate their dramatic change in context and function, we analyzed accounts of peace building through thematic analysis. The themes demonstrated that conducting conflict transformation is expressively linked to former combatant identity. The themes also demonstrate that former combatants construct identity continuity by viewing their current transformative actions as an evolution of their militant activity during the Troubles. The article concludes on the implications of these identity maintenance strategies for former combatants and, more widely, what implications this has for other militants transitioning from conflict or extremism towards peace.     

How Irish Citizens Negotiate Foreign Policy: A Social Representations Approach to Neutrality

The present study investigates the relationship between the foreign policy orientation of Irish neutrality and national identity using a social representations approach (Elcheroth, Doise, & Reicher, 2011; Moscovici, 1961/76). In four focus groups conducted in the Republic of Ireland, 22 participants discussed vignettes in which hypothetical conflicts were described. The findings pointed towards the dynamic relationship between neutrality and Irish national identity and more generally to the importance of macropolitical phenomena for identity construction. The process of categorization was key to participants' decision making regarding the hypothetical conflicts; the decision to support or oppose the Irish state's involvement in the conflicts frequently revolved around a reconsideration of the boundaries of the ingroup. Furthermore, social representations were laden with the possibility of social change; the construction of neutrality as morally ambivalent, motivated by pragmatism rather than principles, opened up a space for younger participants to resist dominant, pragmatic interpretations of the policy and offer alternatives. Theoretical and empirical implications of the findings are discussed. Taken together, the findings demonstrate the critical potential of extending a social representations approach to issues of political psychological significance.     

Different forms of intergroup contact with former adversary are linked to distinct reconciliatory acts through symbolic and realistic threat

In a society burdened with the most severe type of intergroup conflict, we examined the association between willingness to reconcile with former adversary, intergroup contact with, and perceived threat from former adversary. We focused on three reconciliatory acts—forgiveness to the outgroup, support for ingroup apology and support for financial compensation to the outgroup. We included different forms of positive and negative intergroup contact—direct and indirect (extended and mass‐mediated). In the link between contact and reconciliation, we tested the mediating role of two types of intergroup threat—realistic and symbolic. The sample comprised Bosniaks (N = 267) and Croats (N = 278) from Bosnia and Herzegovina. In both samples, reconciliation associated with indirect forms of intergroup contact even when controlling for its link with direct contact. This indicates the potential of indirect contact to promote reconciliation in the lack of direct contact, characteristic for segregated post‐conflict societies. Symbolic threat mediated the relationship between intergroup contact and symbolic forms of reconciliation—forgiveness and support for ingroup apology. Realistic threat mediated the link between intergroup contact and a more tangible form of reconciliation—support for financial compensation. This highlights the importance of considering different types intergroup threat when targeting distinct reconciliatory acts. Our results suggest that practitioners promoting reconciliation in post‐conflict societies need to implement different means when tailoring interventions that should enhance different sides of peace‐making process.     

New measures of political attitudes in Northern Ireland: a social identity perspective

Twenty‐eight measures of political attitudes were validated on a sample of 388 undergraduate students from Northern Ireland. Confirmatory factor analysis showed the scales to be unidimensional, discriminantly valid, with generally excellent reliabilities. The pattern of intergroup differentiation between Catholics and Protestants conformed to Social Identity Theory, with maximum differentiation on important issues, Catholics adopting a social change ideology and Protestants defending the status quo. Catholics and Protestants resolved their respective group associations with violence by condemning both it and terrorism, and also reported interdenominational friendships. The utility of these new measures of political attitudes in terms of measuring changes due to political initiatives, cross‐community reconciliation programmes and in assessing changes in attitudes as a result of integrated or segregated denominational schooling within the Province is outlined. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Conflict-Related Trauma in Northern Ireland: A Behavior Analytic Approach

Intergenerational transmission of trauma describes the impact that traumatic events experienced by one generation have for the subsequent generation. In Northern Ireland, violent conflict raged between 1969 and 1998, when a peace process begun. This study explored to what extent (if any) parents’ experiences of the conflict influenced how children perceived life in this society. Parents completed a questionnaire, and their children drew 2 pictures, depicting Northern Ireland now and before they were born. Children’s behaviors and awareness of the conflict were influenced by their parents’ experiences and narratives, their age, gender, and school. Parental narrative about the violence was influenced by individual learning history, the child’s age and gender, and present circumstances. A behavior analytic approach is offered.     

The Role of Personal Centrality of Ingroup Victimhood in Intergroup Relations and Political Agenda in Northern Ireland

Even though the violent conflicts during the Troubles officially ended decades ago, the memories of violence and division between Catholics and Protestants linger in Northern Ireland. We argue that the personal centrality of collective victimhood, which is formed by the memory and perception of past and ongoing victimization, may play an important role in people's attitudes in postconflict societies. The current study investigated both the antecedents and outcomes of the personal centrality of ingroup victimhood in Northern Ireland and examined the vital role it plays in the aftermath of a violent intergroup conflict among Catholics and Protestants. The results demonstrated that ongoing experiences of victimization such as personal and group-level discrimination and memories of personal and close others' suffering are strongly related to people's personal centrality of ingroup victimhood. The centrality of ingroup victimhood, in turn, predicted various strategies for intergroup interaction and policy preferences such as collective action, support for nonviolence, and attitudes toward reunification of Ireland, which were moderated by group membership. The findings provide empirical evidence for the role of the centrality of ingroup victimhood as a link between experiences of victimization and intergroup interactions as well as policy preferences.     

Identity Management Strategies in Northern Ireland

Abstract

Social identity theory suggests that individuals and groups use different identity management strategies to cope with threatened identities. In October 1998, the authors developed 5 identity management strategy scales for use in the changing political context of Northern Ireland and investigated the relationship of perceptions of stability and legitimacy, as well as in-group identification, to those strategies. Participants were 209 students of the University of Ulster and the Belfast Institute. The results supported the factor structure of the identity management strategy scales. Perceptions of stability and legitimacy and in-group identification were, however, correlated with some strategies only. That finding may indicate that some identity management strategies are related to psychological constructs not covered by social identity theory.     

Cross-Community Contact, Perceived Status Differences, and Intergroup Attitudes in Northern Ireland: The Mediating Roles of Individual-level versus Group-level Threats and the Moderating Role of Social Identification

We tested a model which examined the relationship between contact quantity and quality, relative ingroup status, and intergroup attitudes in Northern Ireland. Intergroup anxiety was considered an individual-level mediator and realistic and symbolic threat as group-level mediators in the model. We examined the idea that the strength of ingroup identification moderates the predictive power of individual- versus group-level variables. Both contact and relative ingroup status predicted anxiety and perceived threats to the ingroup, which were significant mediators in the model. Our results also suggest that while anxiety predicts attitudes for low but not high identifiers, symbolic threats to the ingroup are more important for high than for low identifiers. There was also some evidence indicating that status perceptions moderate contact effects. We discuss these results in terms of their implications for intergroup relations in Northern Ireland.