Borinca, Islam, Stathi, Sofia ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1218-5239 and Gkinopoulos, Theofilos (2025) Ameliorating war's shadows: the role of war-related memories and meta-humanization on intergroup reconciliation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. ISSN 0146-1672 (Print), 1552-7433 (Online) (In Press)

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Abstract

People in post-conflict settings often carry traumatic memories that exacerbate dehumanization and obstruct reconciliation. We investigated these processes through three studies in post-war 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.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	war-related memories, meta-dehumanization, meta-humanization, conciliatory attitudes
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > Institute for Lifecourse Development > Centre for Inequalities Faculty of Education, Health & Human Sciences > School of Human Sciences (HUM)
Last Modified:	15 Apr 2025 09:33
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/50208

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