Conspiracy mentality in post-conflict societies: Relations with the ethos of conflict and readiness for reconciliation

Abstract

After almost 20 years since the end of the armed conflicts in former Yugoslavia, we are witnesses to the fact that the main causes of the conflicts have not been overcome. Reconciliation between ethnic groups that had been in conflict by means of economic and political cooperation, must have a psychological foundation. This study investigates the relations between Conspiracy Mentality, basic lexical social attitudes, and the factors important for Croatian-Serbian and Kosovo Albanian-Serbian reconciliation, i.e., the Ethos of Conflict and the Readiness for Reconciliation. We hypothesize that Conspiracy Mentality will predict the propensity for reconciliation over and above basic social attitudes, and that will mediate the relations between basic social attitudes and factors contributing (or preventing) reconciliation. With the samples of Serbs from Central Serbia (n = 307) and Northern Kosovo (n = 271), Conspiracy Mentality, Ethos of Conflict, Readiness for Reconciliation and five basic lexical social attitudes (Traditional Religiosity, Unmitigated Self-Interest, Communal Rationalism, Subjective Spirituality, and Inequality-Aversion) were measured. Results showed that Conspiracy Mentality is negatively related to the Readiness for Reconciliation and positively to the Ethos of Conflict. Additionally, Conspiracy Mentality predicts Ethos of Conflict over and above the basic social attitudes. Finally, Conspiracy Mentality mediates the relationships between Traditional Religiosity, Inequality-Aversion and Subjective Spirituality on the one hand, and Ethos of Conflict on the other. The results suggest that Conspiracy Mentality should be taken into consideration when creating policies and programmes focused on reconciliation.

Irrational beliefs

“…Specifically, two papers explored the consequences of conspiracy beliefs on important societal outcomes, while one paper investigated the inherent structure of conspiratorial beliefs. A study by Petrović, Međedović, Radović, and Radetić Lovrić (2019, this issue) shed new light on the psychological roots of unwillingness to reconcile. In addition to Ethos of Conflict (Bar-Tal, 2007) and basic social attitudes (Saucier, 2013), which are already found to be important ingredients in unwillingness to reconcile, the authors introduce the Conspiracy Mentality, i.e.…”

Intergroup conflict runs in the family: Parental social attitudes and political ideology predict the ethos of conflict in their offspring

“…However, there is some data suggesting that the concept is applicable to other conflict situations, for example the ethnic conflicts in former Yugoslavia. The existing empirical findings showed that EOC (societal beliefs regarding the conflict between Serbs and Albanians on Kosovo) is positively related to the endorsement of conservative political parties (Međedović & Petrović, 2013), thinking pattern which is characteristic for militant and violent extremists (Međedović & Petrović, 2016), and the endorsement of conspiracy theories, while it showed negative associations with readiness to reconciliation (Petrović, Međedović, Radović, & Lovrić, 2019). These findings suggest that the socio-psychological aspects of violent conflict might be similar in various conflicts which originated in diverse cultures.…”

The Political Psychology of Lynching: WhatsApp Rumors, Anti-Government Appeals, and Violence

“…While we are unaware of studies linking a conspiracy mentality to citizens' acceptance of violenceinducing rumors, previous studies have found citizens prone to believe in conspiracies to be more likely to endorse violence (Imhoff, Dieterle, and Lamberty 2020; Jolley and Paterson 2020) and to be less like to endorse reconciliation in post-conflict societies (Petrović et al 2019).…”