Feeling both victim and perpetrator: investigating duality within the needs-based model

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Conflict Resolution
• Group Dynamics

Background:

• Victims and perpetrators exhibit distinct emotional needs: victims require empowerment, while perpetrators seek acceptance.
• Simultaneous victim and perpetrator roles ('duals') present a unique psychological dynamic.
• Understanding duals' needs is crucial for addressing interpersonal and intergroup conflict.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the emotional needs and behavioral outcomes of individuals and groups in dual victim-perpetrator roles.
• To compare the needs and behaviors of duals with those of pure victims and perpetrators.
• To explore the influence of empowering versus accepting messages on duals' reconciliation willingness.

Main Methods:

• Study 1: Utilized variations of the dictator game to experimentally induce victim, perpetrator, dual, or control roles in interpersonal transgressions.
• Study 2: Employed a recall task related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to induce intergroup victim, perpetrator, or dual roles among Israeli Jews.
• Behavioral and emotional needs were assessed through self-report measures and behavioral tasks.

Main Results:

• Duals demonstrated heightened needs for both empowerment and acceptance.
• Empowerment needs significantly influenced duals' behavior more than acceptance needs.
• Duals exhibited greater antisocial behavior, mirroring victims' responses, and unlike perpetrators' typical reactions.

Conclusions:

• The dual role creates complex emotional needs where empowerment takes precedence in behavioral influence.
• Duals' tendency towards antisocial behavior highlights the challenges in conflict resolution involving simultaneous victim-perpetrator dynamics.
• Findings have implications for understanding and managing conflict in both interpersonal and intergroup contexts.