Abstract
In light of the recent steps Belgium has made towards reconciling with its colonial history in Congo (e.g., the King’s letter of regret, and the removal of some colonial statues), we examined how Belgians differ in their attitudes towards an official apology, towards (symbolic) reparations (e.g., renaming streets), and towards raising more awareness about the colonial past (e.g., more detailed information in educational books) as a function of their ideological worldviews. We hypothesized that authoritarianism and group dominance would negatively predict these outcome variables, while particularly universal-diverse orientation and egalitarianism would predict them positively. We further hypothesized that these relations would be mediated by relevant intergroup emotions (i.e., group-based guilt, shame, and anger, and especially outgroup empathy). Path model analyses on a sample of 258 Flemish-speaking students provided support for our predictions: (1) universal-diverse orientation was the strongest predictor of all intergroup emotions, (2) empathy—and to a lesser extent group-based anger—were the strongest direct predictors of attitudes towards apologizing, reparation, and awareness, and (3) empathy was the most important mediator explaining the associations of universal-diverse and egalitarian orientations with the outcomes. We discuss the implications of our findings for the current debate regarding reconciliation between groups with a history of colonialism.
Highlights
IntroductionIn light of the recent steps Belgium has made towards reconciling with its colonial history in Congo (e.g., the King’s letter of regret, and the removal of some colonial statues), we examined how Belgians differ in their attitudes towards an official apology, towards (symbolic) reparations (e.g., renaming streets), and towards raising more awareness about the colonial past (e.g., more detailed information in educational books) as a function of their ideological worldviews
In light of the recent steps Belgium has made towards reconciling with its colonial history in Congo, we examined how Belgians differ in their attitudes towards an official apology, towards reparations, and towards raising more awareness about the colonial past as a function of their ideological worldviews
Intergroup Emotions as Mediators Because public debates confronting a nation with its past immoral actions rarely take place devoid of affect, in the present study, we investigated the potential role of group-based emotions and outgroup-oriented emotions as mechanisms through which ideological worldviews relate to pro-conciliatory attitudes
Summary
In light of the recent steps Belgium has made towards reconciling with its colonial history in Congo (e.g., the King’s letter of regret, and the removal of some colonial statues), we examined how Belgians differ in their attitudes towards an official apology, towards (symbolic) reparations (e.g., renaming streets), and towards raising more awareness about the colonial past (e.g., more detailed information in educational books) as a function of their ideological worldviews. Path model analyses on a sample of 258 Flemish-speaking students provided support for our predictions: (1) universal-diverse orientation was the strongest predictor of all intergroup emotions, (2) empathy—and to a lesser extent group-based anger—were the strongest direct predictors of attitudes towards apologizing, reparation, and awareness, and (3) empathy was the most important mediator explaining the associations of universal-diverse and egalitarian orientations with the outcomes. From 1885 onwards, King Leopold II of Belgium de facto owned the Congo Free State under his personal rule. During those decades, many well-documented atrocities occurred, ranging from unjustified imprisonments to brutal mutilations. In 2019, Belgium acknowledged its responsibility for the segregation policy under which ‘metis’ (i.e., mixed-race) children were abducted from Congo, though it remained silent about the other facets of the colonial past. This letter—the king could not travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo due to the COVID-19 pandemic—was seen as historic but stopped short of an official apology (The Guardian, 2020)
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