www.PeaceTest.org: Development, Implementation, and Evaluation of a Web-Based War-Prevention Program in a Time of War

Abstract

Collective violence is a major cause of death, illness, and suffering. The theory of moral disengagement offers a framework for understanding and preventing violence between nations, and the Internet provides a vehicle for reaching a diverse population with a war-prevention program. The objectives of the PeaceTest project were to develop, implement, and evaluate a theory-based interactive website to be used as a war-prevention intervention for a general audience. The open-access site www.PeaceTest.org is an intervention to increase visitors' resistance to the cognitive processes of moral disengagement through risk assessment and tailored remediation. Evaluation of the program used a single-group pre-test—posttest design involving self-reported attitudes toward the use of military force. From 13 May to 15 September 2004, the site recorded 7,521 self-selected visitors from around the world; 5,702 (76%) completed the pre-test, and 338 (6%) of these completed the post-test. The intervention effect was examined using paired t-tests. A majority of respondents (75%) recorded PeaceTest scores indicating they were at risk of moral disengagement. Women, medical/public health students, older visitors, and non-US visitors showed significantly greater resistance to moral disengagement than other demographic groups ( p < 0.01). Resistance increased significantly among those who took the post-test ( p < 0.01), especially among women. The number, predisposition, and characteristics of respondents were strongly affected by efforts to promote the site and by the site's launching at a time of intense public sentiment about the US-led war in Iraq. The authors conclude that the PeaceTest project demonstrated the potential to produce change in war-promoting attitudes in an unrestricted population, though findings must be interpreted in the light of study-design limitations. Controversy and publicity can briefly generate a large audience, but that audience may arrive with strong predispositions. Gaining widespread acceptance and use of a web-based public-health approach to war prevention remains a worthwhile challenge.

Moral Disengagement in Emerging Adults’ Attitudes towards the Colombian Peace Accords

“…Unlike the conclusions drawn from several other investigations (Bandura et al, 1996;Howard et al, 2007;Jackson & Sparr, 2005;McAlister et al, 2006), in the present study men and participants with a lower educational level did not demonstrate more moral disengagement than women and participants with a higher education level. In contrast, an attitude of moral disengagement manifested less often in the comments of people with a lower level of education (Alejandra, Sofi, John, Max y Gerónimo).…”

“…Only one recent study explores the use of moral disengagement in the context of Colombian armed conflict but in the communiqués of FARC and a paramilitary group (AUC, in its Spanish acronym), not in the general population (Villegas, Flórez, & Espinel, 2018). Second, some international studies suggest that women (Bandura et al, 1996;Howard, Shegog, Grussendorf, Stelzig, & McAlister, 2007;McAlister et al, 2006) and people with a higher level of education (Jackson & Sparr, 2005;McAlister et al, 2006) are more resistant to moral disengagement. Additionally, the mechanism of dehumanization has been associated with an increase in the perception of threat and an increase in discrimination against the victim (Demoulin, Rodríguez et al, 2004;Pereira, Vala, & Leyends, 2009 as cited in Piñuela, 2014), as well as with opposition to reparation policies amid political conflicts (Zebel, Zimmerman, Tendayi Viki, & Doosje, 2008).…”

Do state governments have the right to kill civilians to defeat international terrorism? Views from US, Israel and South Africa

“…Another example of an educational intervention aimed at reducing MD is the PeaceTest project (Howard et al, 2007). This project involved a theory-based MD interactive website designed to be a war-prevention intervention for a general audience.…”

“…Martín-Peñ a and Opotow (2011) described how the ETA (a terrorist separatist group in Spain) has used tactics such as euphemisms, displacement of responsibility and blaming the victim in narratives designed to justify their violence. Although the evidence is mixed, the bulk of the relevant studies found that in comparison to men, women were significantly less morally disengaged (Ashy and Malley-Morrison, 2007;Caprara et al, 2009;Grussendorf et al, 2002;Hashim and Malley-Morrison, 2007;Howard et al, 2007;Mcalister et al, 2006). Moreover, there is some evidence that women are significantly more morally engaged than men in regards to government aggression (Malley-Morrison et al, 2009).…”

Student support towards war in college students from different religiously affiliated colleges in the Midwest of the United States

“…5702 (76%) completed the pre-test, and 338 (6%) of these completed the post-test. Seventy-five per cent recorded peace test scores indicating they were at risk of moral disengagement while those who completed reviewing material and took the post-test showed an increase in resistance to moral disengagement (Howard et al 2007). McAlister et al studied levels of moral disengagement in children aged 13-18 in Estonia, Finland, Romania, the Russian Federation and the US.…”