Research indicates that the memory of collective historical trauma may fuel current intergroup conflicts. In the present research, we examined in two experiments whether perpetrator desire for historical closure influences victim group attitudes in a current, seemingly unrelated, intergroup conflict. In Study 1 (N = 122), participants texted with a German confederate who either expressed responsibility, a desire for historical closure (Schlussstrich), or discussed a non‐Holocaust related topic. In Study 2 (N = 115), participants conversed with a German confederate who either acknowledged collective responsibility or expressed a desire for closure. In both studies, attitudes towards the confederate, Germany, and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict were measured. Results indicated that historical closure directly increased negative evaluations of the German confederate, and indirectly influenced attitudes towards Germany, and support for peacemaking with the Palestinians via confederate evaluations. The discussion focuses on perpetrator group influences on the relationship between historical collective trauma and current intergroup relations.
Germany’s past is marked not only by the atrocities of the Holocaust, but also by a history of collective attempts to come to terms with these crimes. The present paper focuses on the previously rarely explored consequences of perceived success in dealing with a perpetrator past for the moral ingroup-image and the demand for an end to the discussion of this chapter of history (i.e., demand for historical closure). In one correlational study (N = 982) and three experimental studies (N = 904), we found robust evidence for a positive association between perceived success in dealing with the Nazi past and perceived ingroup morality. The results on the assumed influence of success on claims for historical closure, mediated by morality, were only partly supportive and inconsistent, particularly when controlling for political orientation and collective narcissism. However, final single-paper meta-analyses revealed a significant association between perceived ingroup morality and demand for historical closure (K = 5), as well as a small but significant effect of success (vs. failure) on demand for historical closure (K = 4), even when accounting for political orientation. Implications for understanding ethical self-views in historical perpetrator groups and recurring debates about a ‘Schlussstrich’ on the German Nazi past are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.