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Winning the victim status can open conflicting groups to reconciliation: Evidence from the Israeli‐Palestinian Conflict
Author(s) -
SimanTovNachlieli Ilanit,
Shnabel Nurit,
Halabi Samer
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
european journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1099-0992
pISSN - 0046-2772
DOI - 10.1002/ejsp.2091
Subject(s) - ingroups and outgroups , acknowledgement , group conflict , social psychology , outgroup , psychology , conflict resolution , pessimism , group cohesiveness , fatalism , collective action , political science , law , theology , philosophy , computer security , politics , computer science
Members of conflicting groups often engage in ‘competitive victimhood’, that is, they are motivated to gain acknowledgment that their ingroup is the conflict's ‘true’ victim. The present study found that compared with a control group, Israeli Jews and Palestinians reassured that their ingroup had won the victim status showed increased willingness to reconcile with the outgroup and held less pessimistic, fatalistic views of the conflict. Moreover, for members of the stronger party—Israeli Jews—winning the victim status also led to increased group efficacy and consequent readiness to take action toward resolution. These findings extend previous theorizing about the positive effects of addressing group members' need for acknowledgement of their victimization. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.