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Ameliorating War's Shadows: The Role of War-related Memories and Meta-humanization on Intergroup Reconciliation
Islam Borinca1,2, Sofia Stathi3, Theofilos Gkinopoulos4
1University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
People in post-conflict settings often carry traumatic memories that exacerbate dehumanization and obstruct reconciliation. We investigated these processes through three studies in postwar Kosovo. Study 1 (N = 200), correlational, found that disturbing war-related memories negatively predicted openness to contact and peace with former adversaries through increased meta-dehumanization and outgroup dehumanization. Study 2 (N = 201), experimental, manipulated meta-humanization and revealed an interaction between disturbing war-related memories and meta-humanization (vs. meta-dehumanization and control) on openness to contact and peace, mediated by outgroup dehumanization. Study 3 (N = 201) replicated Study 2 and extended the interaction to competitive victimhood, showing that meta-humanization reduced competitive victimhood only for individuals with low levels of disturbing war memories. Additionally, Study 3 demonstrated that outgroup dehumanization mediated the effect of meta-humanization on all outcomes, with stronger effects for those low (vs. high) in disturbing war memories. These findings held after controlling for prior intergroup contact.
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