The paradox of group-based guilt: modes of national identification, conflict vehemence, and reactions to the in-group's moral violations.
The authors examined the relationships between 2 modes of national identification (attachment to the in-group and the in-group's glorification) and reactions to the in-group's moral violations among Israeli students. Data were collected during a period of relative calm in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as during a period of great intensification of this conflict. As expected, in Study 1, the 2 modes of identification had contrasting relationships with group-based guilt: Attachment was positively related whereas glorification was negatively related to group-based guilt for in-group's past infractions. Glorification suppressed the attachment effect but not vice versa. Both relationships were mediated by the use of exonerating cognitions. In Study 2, group-based guilt for the in-group's current wrongdoings was increased by priming critical rather than conventional attachment to the in-group, suggesting a causal effect of mode of identification on the experience of negative group-based emotions.
Roccas
Sonia
S
Department of Psychology and Education, The Open University of Israel, Tel Aviv, Israel. soniaro@oumail.openu.ac.il
Klar
Yechiel
Y
Liviatan
Ido
I
D000328:Adult; D018912:Arabs; D001290:Attitude; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007557:Israel; D007585:Jews; D008297:Male; D009014:Morals; D009769:Object Attachment; D012933:Social Identification