Open AccessPsychological Correlates of Public Support for Reconciliation: The Israeli-Jordanian Case
Author(s) -
Ifat Maoz,
Jacob Shamir,
Gadi Wolfsfeld,
Shira Dvir
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
peace and conflict studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.116
H-Index - 6
ISSN - 1082-7307
DOI - 10.46743/1082-7307/2009.1101
Subject(s) - sympathy , hatred , judaism , social psychology , politics , outgroup , public opinion , perception , political science , public support , psychology , law , public relations , geography , archaeology , neuroscience
This study examines psychological correlates of Jewish-Israeli support for post-conflict political reconciliation with Jordan. An analysis of data from a public opinion survey conducted with a representative sample of Israeli-Jews (n=1000) indicated that appraisal of outgroup collective threat, as well as hatred and (lack of) sympathy towards Jordanians, predicted Jewish-Israeli decreased support for peaceful reconciliation with Jordan. Our findings point to the crucial role of threat perceptions in hindering post-conflict reconciliation and to the importance of sympathy towards the other side in increasing support for such reconciliation.