Hope Comes in Many Forms

Abstract

In conflicts, political attitudes are based to some extent on the perception of the out-group as sharing the goal of peace and supporting steps to achieve it. However, intractable conflicts are characterized by inconsistent and negative interactions, which prevent clear messages of out-group support. This problem calls for alternative ways to convey support between groups in conflict. One such method is emotional expressions. The current research tested whether, in the absence of out-group support for peace, observing expressions of out-group hope induces conciliatory attitudes. Results from two experimental studies, conducted within the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, revealed support for this hypothesis. Expressions of Palestinian hope induced acceptance of a peace agreement through Israeli hope and positive perceptions of the proposal when out-group support expressions were low. Findings demonstrate the importance of hope as a means of conveying information within processes of conflict resolution, overriding messages of low out-group support for peace.

The prevalence of despair in intractable conflicts: Direct messages of hope and despair affect leftists, but not rightists

“…We posited that Theoretically, this work holds implications in the study of hope in conflict resolution. While hope has been gaining interest in recent years , 2017a, b, 2019Goldenberg et al, 2018;Leshem et al, 2016;Saguy & Halperin, 2014), despair (or hopelessness) has been merely assumed or implied. Hopelessness or despair, moreover, is primarily identified as the complete opposite of hope (Lazarus, 1999;Nesse, 1999) and is also referred to as a total lack of hope.…”

“…In order to measure hope for peace, we used an 11-item scale adapted from the work of Cohen-Chen and colleagues (Cohen-Chen et al, 2015;, 2017a to examine the extent to which participants experienced hope regarding peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (e.g., "I have hope that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will end peacefully in a few decades"; α = .83). In order to measure participants' levels of urgency to resolve the conflict, we used an 8-item scale (e.g., "we need to act urgently to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because if we do not the security situation in Israel will only get worse"; α = .93).…”

“…Future endeavors should focus specifically on circumstances that would enable and facilitate the acceptance and influence of hopeful messages among those who seem unmoved, namely Rightists. While previous work has shown indirect messages to be effective (Cohen-Chen, Halperin, Porat, et al, 2014;Cohen-Chen et al, 2015, 2017a, 2019Goldenberg et al, 2018;Saguy & Halperin, 2014;see Halperin et al, 2014 for a review), it is not always possible to avoid direct messages. Therefore, it would be well worth using these findings as a starting point for investigating ways in which messages of hope would be effective in conflict.…”

Logics and Logistics for Future Research: Appropriately Interpreting the Emotional Landscape of Multicultural Negotiation

“…In contrast, mindfully attending to a counterpart's expression of hope that the situation can improve could promote helpful reciprocal attitudes from the perceiver around compromising or creatively resolving conflict. Specifically, experiencing hope, a futureoriented emotion which enables imagining a better future (Stotland, 1969), has been shown to successfully promote compromise in conflict (Cohen-Chen, Crisp, & Halperin, 2015;Cohen-Chen, Halperin, Crisp, & Gross, 2014;Saguy & Halperin, 2014) and out-group expression of hope is associated with a willingness to make concessions in conflict situations (Cohen-Chen, Crisp, & Halperin, 2017;Leshem, Klar, & Flores, 2016).…”

Investigation of the Factors That Effect the University Students’ Desperation Levels (Kafkas University Example)

“…In intergroup conflicts, hope has been found to be related to concession-making (Rosler et al, 2017), positive intergroup behavior (Lala et al, 2014), forgiveness (Moeschberger et al, 2005), and willingness to provide humanitarian aid (Halperin & Gross, 2011). Recently, experimentally induced hope has been displayed to rise attitude opportunity (Cohen-Chen et al, 2014;Cohen-Chen et al, 2017). As is the case of hope, despair is induced when attempting to think about and imagine the future.…”