Bringing science to bear—on peace, not war: Elaborating on psychology’s potential to promote peace.

Abstract

We argue that psychological and contextual factors play important roles in bringing about, facilitating, and escalating violent conflict. Yet rather than conclude that violent conflict is inevitable, we believe psychology's contributions can extend beyond understanding the origins and nature of violent conflict, to promote nonviolence and peace. In this article, we summarize psychological perspectives on the conditions and motivations underlying violent conflict. Drawing on this work, we then discuss psychological and contextual factors that can mitigate violence and war and promote nonviolence and peace.

Meaning threat can promote peaceful, not only military‐based approaches to intergroup conflict: The moderating role of ingroup glorification

“…Similar to the focus on negative behavior among the various literatures on threat, researchers have also often assumed that the intergroup context-especially intergroup conflict-inherently promotes negative social behaviors (e.g., Wildschut, Pinter, Vevea, Insko, & Schopler, 2003). However, consistent with emerging views that the intergroup context can be a source of positive behavior (e.g., Pittinsky, 2012;Spears, 2010) and that people do have the capacity to react nonviolently even during intergroup conflict (for a review of both antisocial and prosocial human capabilities in intergroup conflict see Leidner, Tropp, & Lickel, 2013), we argue that people's responses to threat can be antisocial or prosocial, even in the context of intergroup relations and intergroup conflict. Drawing on the MMM as well as these recent perspectives on the capacity for nonviolent responses to intergroup conflict, we argue that the nature of people's responses to meaning threat should critically depend on preexisting (antisocial or prosocial) meaning frameworks.…”

Group interaction as the crucible of social identity formation: A glimpse at the foundations of social identities for collective action

“…human induced climate change, global poverty; see, e.g. Bazerman & Malhotra, 2006;Leidner, Tropp & Lickel, 2013).The current research draws on the two prongs of the Lewinian legacy by extending an analysis of group interaction as it relates to social identity formation and collective action.We suggest that an important part of social psychology's ability to contribute solutions to contemporary global problems hinges on its ability to explain the origins or foundations of psychological group formation. This is because many of the most significant problems that confront us today are problems that require collective solutions (e.g.…”

“…human induced climate change, global poverty; see, e.g. Bazerman & Malhotra, 2006;Leidner, Tropp & Lickel, 2013).…”

Constructive Management and Resolution of Conflict

“…High levels of dysfunctional conflict also contribute to wasted management time, as well as the extra cost associated with replacing and training new personnel (Capobianco et al, 2005;Runde and Flanagan, 2007). At the societal level, leaders are also instrumental in shaping intergroup violence (Leidner et al, 2013). At the societal level, leaders are also instrumental in shaping intergroup violence (Leidner et al, 2013).…”