Indonesian civilians’ attributions for anti-Chinese violence during the May 1998 riots in Indonesia

Abstract

The present research examines the perceptions of Indonesian civilians regarding the May 1998 riots, which occurred at the end of the period of military dictatorship in Indonesia and included looting, rapes, and murders, disproportionately targeting Chinese Indonesians. Using a mixed methods approach, the research explores the intersectionality of ethnicity and gender as factors associated with perceptions of the extent and causes of the riots. It aims to contribute to the literature concerning the Ultimate Attribution Error, and to the psychology of intergroup relations in non-WEIRD contexts more broadly. An online survey with qualitative and quantitative components was administered to 235 participants (134 Pribumi and 101 Chinese Indonesian participants). The present research provides what may be the first documentation of civilian perceptions of the May 1998 riots. Significant differences consistent with the Ultimate Attribution Error were found between perpetrator and victim groups’ accounts. Participants who are Pribumi (the group involved in perpetrating the violence) attributed the causes of the violence to external factors more strongly, while participants who are Chinese Indonesians (the victim group) attributed the causes of the mass violence more strongly to the internal factors of perpetrators. There was no evidence, however, that gender affected perceptions, despite the gendered nature of the violence.

Gendered Blame: Narratives of Participation in Genocide

“…Specifically, research in criminology has found that when people explain their own untoward actions, they tend to allocate them to external factors (e.g., they were coerced) rather than to internal attributes (e.g., they were greedy) (see review in Maruna and Copes, 2005; see also Maruna and Mann, 2006). In much the same way, social psychological research on attribution errors emphasizes whether and how people place blame on external or internal factors, with research generally finding that individuals are more likely to attribute their own and even their in-group member’s harmful or criminalized actions to external factors (Imhoff et al, 2017; see also Bilali et al, 2012; Vollhardt & Twali, 2020; Himawan et al, 2021). We thus organize our results around the axis of external vs. internal factors.…”

Children can represent complex social status hierarchies: Evidence from Indonesia

“…For example, among the 10 wealthiest people in Indonesia (all of whom are men; Ho & Karmali, 2021), seven are Chinese Indonesian and only one is Native Indonesian. Chinese Indonesians' economic power has led to resentment among some Native Indonesians, most notably during the violent May 1998 riots in which military leaders blamed Chinese Indonesians for Indonesia's economic crisis and incited violence against them (Himawan et al, 2022; Purdey, 2006). Data from the 2017 national survey finds that Native Indonesians still perceive ethnic wealth disparities; 60% of respondents agreed that Chinese Indonesians are more likely to be wealthy than Native Indonesians (Setijadi, 2017).…”