Conceptualizing and Measuring Support for Collective Violence

Although collective violence remains a pervasive issue affecting many societies today, the specific psychological mechanisms underlying individual differences in support for collective violence are relatively understudied. In four studies, using five samples from Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey (total N = 3758), we conceptualize and develop a new multidimensional scale for measuring individual differences in collective violence beliefs. Contrary to some prior theorizing and extant research on interpersonal violence, we found that people's justifications for collective violence are structured based on the target of the act rather than the intensity of the violent act. Consequently, we developed and validated a Two-Dimensional Collective Violence Beliefs Scale (CVBS: 2D) that distinguishes between violence targeted at outgroup members, referred to as diffuse collective violence, and violence targeted at outgroup leaders, which we term upward collective violence. We validate this novel scale in multiple contexts and discuss the implications of the two dimensions of collective violence revealed in this study.