Neuroscience
Across the world, whether it's the troubles of Northern Ireland or the tense situation in Israel and Palestine, forgiveness is often the greatest hurdle to achieving peace. When two groups have each committed such terrible acts against each other, how can the cycle of resentment ever be broken?
Sabina Cehajic and colleagues examined this question in multi-ethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina, where, between 1992 and 1995, hundreds of thousands of Bosnian Muslims were raped and killed by predominantly Serb forces (many Serbs also lost their lives too).
Today, the country is composed of Bosnian Muslims, Serbs, Croats and other ethnic groups, and politics there is dominated by nationalistic parties representing the separate ethnic groups.
Cehajic and her team surveyed 180 Bosnian Muslims about their attitudes towards Bosnian Serbs in the wake of the earlier conflict. They found that Bosnian Muslims who had more Serb friends and who identified more with a sense of being "Bosnian", rather than "Bosnian Muslim" or "Bosniak", also tended to show more empathy for Serbs as a group, to be more trusting of Serbs, and to see Serbs as more varied - all of which predicted greater levels of forgiveness and more positive attitudes towards the Serbs.
This pattern is consistent with what's known as the "contact hypothesis" in social psychology, which states that more high quality contact between groups promotes intergroup reconciliation.
Cehajic's team said their findings have policy implications. "One practical suggestion for restoration of damaged intergroup relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina could be the creation of a new constitution with centralized government," they said. "Such a new unified political structure might promote both more frequent intergroup contact and the creation of a politically and psychologically meaningful common-ingroup identification [i.e. at the level of 'Bosnian']".
However, a key weakness of the study, which often undermines research in this field, is its cross-sectional design. It's possible that the direction of causality between the observed variables flows in the other direction - perhaps it is forgiveness that leads to greater trust and empathy towards the outgroup, and thence to greater contact with them. If so, we're back to square one: just how can we help foster that initial forgiveness?
_________________________________
Cehajic, S., Brown, R., Castano, E. (2008). Forgive and Forget? Antecedents and Consequences of Intergroup Forgiveness in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Political Psychology, 29(3), 351-367. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2008.00634.x
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- The Cure For Procrastination? Forgive Yourself!
There are so many things you'd rather be doing than what you ought to be doing and what happens is that you delay doing what you ought. All the evidence shows that this procrastination is bad for you, for your productivity, your school grades, for...
- Using A Little Imagination To Help Beat Racism
Prejudice and animosity between groups derives largely from the idea that the "they" are somehow different from "us". Hundreds of studies have shown that this animosity can dissolve when members of different groups make contact with each other - becoming...
- Why Marginalised Minorities May Be Wary Of Intergroup Contact
When people from different social groups mix, they generally come away with a more positive attitude towards the other social group. However, this benefit is not always symmetrical - people from a minority group are less likely to emerge with improved...
- Forgive And Forget
“…the most beautiful thing that man can do is to forgive a wrong”, wrote Jewish rabbi, Eleazar of Worms (1176-1238). It may once have been strictly theological territory but now psychologists are turning their attention to understanding forgiving....
- Workshop At The Chicago School Of Professional Psychology In Dc!
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Washington, D.C. Campus Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Appreciation for Stress Reduction and Increased Well-Being for The Global Community Tuesday, March 31 9:00 am-5:00 pm 901 15th St., NW Washington,...
Neuroscience
Promoting forgiveness in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Across the world, whether it's the troubles of Northern Ireland or the tense situation in Israel and Palestine, forgiveness is often the greatest hurdle to achieving peace. When two groups have each committed such terrible acts against each other, how can the cycle of resentment ever be broken?Sabina Cehajic and colleagues examined this question in multi-ethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina, where, between 1992 and 1995, hundreds of thousands of Bosnian Muslims were raped and killed by predominantly Serb forces (many Serbs also lost their lives too).
Today, the country is composed of Bosnian Muslims, Serbs, Croats and other ethnic groups, and politics there is dominated by nationalistic parties representing the separate ethnic groups.
Cehajic and her team surveyed 180 Bosnian Muslims about their attitudes towards Bosnian Serbs in the wake of the earlier conflict. They found that Bosnian Muslims who had more Serb friends and who identified more with a sense of being "Bosnian", rather than "Bosnian Muslim" or "Bosniak", also tended to show more empathy for Serbs as a group, to be more trusting of Serbs, and to see Serbs as more varied - all of which predicted greater levels of forgiveness and more positive attitudes towards the Serbs.
This pattern is consistent with what's known as the "contact hypothesis" in social psychology, which states that more high quality contact between groups promotes intergroup reconciliation.
Cehajic's team said their findings have policy implications. "One practical suggestion for restoration of damaged intergroup relations in Bosnia and Herzegovina could be the creation of a new constitution with centralized government," they said. "Such a new unified political structure might promote both more frequent intergroup contact and the creation of a politically and psychologically meaningful common-ingroup identification [i.e. at the level of 'Bosnian']".
However, a key weakness of the study, which often undermines research in this field, is its cross-sectional design. It's possible that the direction of causality between the observed variables flows in the other direction - perhaps it is forgiveness that leads to greater trust and empathy towards the outgroup, and thence to greater contact with them. If so, we're back to square one: just how can we help foster that initial forgiveness?
_________________________________
Cehajic, S., Brown, R., Castano, E. (2008). Forgive and Forget? Antecedents and Consequences of Intergroup Forgiveness in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Political Psychology, 29(3), 351-367. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2008.00634.x
Post written by Christian Jarrett (@psych_writer) for the BPS Research Digest.
- The Cure For Procrastination? Forgive Yourself!
There are so many things you'd rather be doing than what you ought to be doing and what happens is that you delay doing what you ought. All the evidence shows that this procrastination is bad for you, for your productivity, your school grades, for...
- Using A Little Imagination To Help Beat Racism
Prejudice and animosity between groups derives largely from the idea that the "they" are somehow different from "us". Hundreds of studies have shown that this animosity can dissolve when members of different groups make contact with each other - becoming...
- Why Marginalised Minorities May Be Wary Of Intergroup Contact
When people from different social groups mix, they generally come away with a more positive attitude towards the other social group. However, this benefit is not always symmetrical - people from a minority group are less likely to emerge with improved...
- Forgive And Forget
“…the most beautiful thing that man can do is to forgive a wrong”, wrote Jewish rabbi, Eleazar of Worms (1176-1238). It may once have been strictly theological territory but now psychologists are turning their attention to understanding forgiving....
- Workshop At The Chicago School Of Professional Psychology In Dc!
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology Washington, D.C. Campus Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Appreciation for Stress Reduction and Increased Well-Being for The Global Community Tuesday, March 31 9:00 am-5:00 pm 901 15th St., NW Washington,...