Intergroup Relationships

In this project, I use insights from motivation and self-regulation and other psychological subfields (perception, group dynamics) to promote positive intergroup relationships. The project is funded by the Ministry for Science and Culture of Lower-Saxony to enhance research cooperations between Israel and Lower-Saxony (https://zukunft.niedersachsen.de/en/funding-offers/research-cooperation-lower-saxony-israel/). Together with Prof. Eran Halperin (Hebrew University Jerusalem) and Prof. David Sherman (University of California, Santa Barbara), I aim to develop interventions to reduce prejudice and hostile attitudes in intergroup conflicts, with a special focus on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Tensions between different groups seem to be increasing. For example, following the October 7th terrorist attacks and the war in Gaza, Anti-Israel sentiments have risen in Arab countries, Anti-Arab sentiments have grown in Israel, and both Anti-Israel and Anti-Arab attitudes have increased in Germany and the U.S. These events highlight the urgent need to better understand the psychology behind such intergroup conflicts and to develop tools (e.g., interventions) to promote openness and reduce intransigence in such conflicts.

Underlying and exacerbating these conflicts are multiple psychological factors: people believe what they see is the objective truth (naïve realism), they fail to see things from opposing points of view (perspective taking) and they have difficulty imagining a better future while recognizing the obstacles to get their (mental contrasting). We will explore whether interventions designed to address these psychological processes can exert impact on attitudes and beliefs regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
We will further explore how self-affirmation can enhance the effectiveness of these intergroup interventions that may challenge people’s self-perceptions. One key factor fueling negative attitudes toward other groups is the perception of threat. To address this, we will use self-affirmation interventions, which help reduce perceived threats by reminding people of their core values. We will study these interventions in different countries (Israel, Germany, and the U.S.) and among different groups (e.g., pro-Palestinian activists, pro-Israel activists).

Finally, for educators and practitioners engaged in conflict resolution, we will aim to create interventions based on lessons learned from this research. Because interventions often have difficulties reaching those target audiences that would benefit the most from those interventions, we will design short video-based interventions that can be easily disseminated (e.g., via social media such as Instagram or TikTok) to a broad audience.