Conflict Attitudes Research Articles

Understanding Conflict Dynamics in Spanish Parliament: MPs’ Personality Traits and Attitudes Toward Conflict

This study addresses the gap in research on individual-level factors contributing to parliamentary conflict by developing a measure of members of parliaments’ (MPs) conflict attitudes and examining the role of personality traits. Utilizing a comprehensive framework and validated measures, we aim to provide insights into the factors influencing MPs’ propensity for conflict and resistance to consensus. Our findings reveal that personality traits related to Agreeableness and Machiavellianism are significant predictors of conflict attitudes. These results deepen our understanding of the micro-foundations of parliamentary conflict and inform strategies for promoting cooperation and constructive political behavior in legislatures.

Rewriting the Literary Past: D. H. Lawrence and Geoff Dyer’s Antibiography

Abstract Why do memoirists, in order to find themselves, find it necessary to rewrite their favorite authors? This article explores this question by analyzing D. H. Lawrence and Geoff Dyer, who provide a case study for understanding the radical energies that burn beneath the surface of rewriting. The article traces Dyer’s conflicted attitude to memoir and rewriting back to Lawrence, who theorizes rewriting and puts it into practice in his own work, specifically in his Study of Thomas Hardy. If by now the book market is awash in rewrites, that is because rewriting first asserted itself as a contrarian impulse, a radically different way of thinking about the canon that has become second nature.

Re‐evaluating the impact of collective victimhood on conflict attitudes: Results from a natural experiment, a survey experiment, and panel study using Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day

AbstractA significant observational literature identifies a link between collective victimhood and conflict‐enhancing attitudes, though results from experimental work increasing victimhood's salience vary. This article thus revisits this question in two studies in a context in which increased salience is especially likely to shift attitudes. Study 1 exploits the happenstance fielding of 12 surveys over Israel's Holocaust Memorial Day between 1979 and 2021. Using all 192 available estimates assessing hawkishness, preferences for out‐group exclusion, and in‐group solidarity, it fails to detect statistically significant effects of a state‐led effort to increase the salience of Israel's collective victimhood narrative in a natural setting 90% of the time. Study 2 replicates the null findings across multiple comparisons and outcomes in a companion harmonized panel and survey experiment. Substantively, the findings suggest that it may be harder to use short‐term manipulations of collective victimhood to shift attitudes than often assumed.

The young and the hawkish: Generational differences in conflict attitudes in Israel

How do generational patterns affect public opinion in prolonged conflicts? While considerable research has addressed the effects of conflicts on children and adolescents, understanding the broader generational divides in public attitudes towards conflict resolution remains an area with both theoretical and empirical gaps. Such understanding is crucial, given its potential to significantly shape aggregate public opinion and the trajectory of conflicts. This paper focuses on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, examining how support for conflict resolution varies across Israeli–Jewish cohorts. It employs longitudinal survey data (1981–2019), using both descriptive methods and age-period-cohort (APC) regression models. The findings indicate that generational differences in public opinion were relatively small until the early 2000s. Post this period, younger Israelis have increasingly displayed more hawkish attitudes than older generations, coupled with a stronger inclination towards right-wing identification. These trends pose important questions about the changing nature of support for compromise within Israeli society and its implications for the future of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The factors driving these emerging generational gaps are complex and merit in-depth exploration. While this article touches upon potential explanations, including demographic shifts and hope for peace, they do not entirely clarify the observed generational differences, highlighting the need for further research.

Situational assessment of empathy and compassion: Predicting prosociality using a video-based task.

Classical psychometric approaches in social science measure individuals' tendency to experience empathy and compassion. Using abstract questionnaire items, they place high demand on subjects' capacity to introspect, memorize, and generalize the corresponding emotions. We employed a Socio-affective Video Task (SoVT)-an alternative approach that measures situationally elicited emotions-and assessed its predictive power over prosocial behavior against classical questionnaires in a sample of Israeli university students. We characterized the conceptual embedding of the SoVT concerning other measures of prosocial affect and cognition, and tested group identification as an alternative precursor to prosocial behavior. Eighty participants rated their reactions to videos that presented the suffering of others or everyday scenes on scales of negative affect (providing a proxy for elicited empathy) and compassion. We then administered classical questionnaires that target empathy (the Interpersonal Reactivity Index) and compassion (the Compassionate Love Scale), as well as measures of hypothetical and real-life helping and prosocial attitudes-including conflict attitudes and intergroup bias. While compassion ratings in the SoVT failed to predict prosociality more accurately than classical questionnaires, the SoVT empathy index succeeded and correlated strongly with other precursors of prosociality. These results support video-based situational assessment as an implicit and robust alternative in the measurement of empathy-related processes.

Spontaneous contact and intergroup attitudes in asymmetric protracted ethno-national conflict: East Jerusalem Palestinian students in an Israeli academic setting.

Spontaneous contact and intergroup attitudes in asymmetric protracted ethno-national conflict: East Jerusalem Palestinian students in an Israeli academic setting.

Photography and Early Motor Touring in Britain

This article explores the arrival of the motorcar in Britain as it polarised photographers’ opinions like no other means of transport before. The article asks, more specifically, why those photographers who came from the experience of cycling believed that the new transport technology hindered the practices of observation that they treasured and, relatedly, how the use that the motorists made of the camera ushered in a new way of being modern. It does so by reconstructing the impact that the new material and social experiences triggered by motoring, together with the visual culture that accompanied its popularisation, had in shaping the automobile’s relationship with photography. The article argues that photographers’ conflicted attitudes towards the role that the motorcar played in their leisure lives is reflected in a tension between established and emerging machine-driven visual epistemologies at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Prominent Roles and Conflicted Attitudes of Eumelanin in the Living World.

Eumelanin, a macromolecule widespread in all the living world and long appreciated for its protective action against harmful UV radiation, is considered the beneficial component of the melanin family (ευ means good in ancient Greek). This initially limited picture has been rather recently extended and now includes a variety of key functions performed by eumelanin in order to support life also under extreme conditions. A lot of still unexplained aspects characterize this molecule that, in an evolutionary context, survived natural selection. This paper aims to emphasize the unique characteristics and the consequent unusual behaviors of a molecule that still holds the main chemical/physical features detected in fossils dating to the late Carboniferous. In this context, attention is drawn to the duality of roles played by eumelanin, which occasionally reverses its functional processes, switching from an anti-oxidant to a pro-oxidant behavior and implementing therefore harmful effects.

Long-Term Change in Conflict Attitudes: A Dynamic Perspective

AbstractA large literature examines how citizens in violent conflicts react to the conflict's events, particularly violent escalations. Nevertheless, the temporal nature of these attitudinal changes remains under-studied. We suggest that popular reactions to greater violence are typically immediate but brief, indicating short-term emotional responses to physical threats. Over the longer term, however, public opinion is more commonly shaped by non-violent events signaling the adversary's perceived intentions, reflecting slower but deeper belief-updating processes. We support this argument using dynamic analyses of comprehensive monthly data from Israel spanning two full decades (2001–20). Rather than violence levels, we find that long-term changes in Jewish attitudes on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict follow non-violent events implying Palestinian preferences, particularly failed negotiations and out-group leadership changes. Our findings underscore the importance of public opinion's temporal dynamics and show that non-violent events, which are often overlooked in the literature, play a prominent role in shaping long-term attitudes in conflictual contexts.

CONFLICT EQUILIBRIUM PREFERENCE RANKING OF MULTIPLE DECISION MAKERS BASED ON CONFLICT RESOLUTION GRAPH MODEL AND EMOTION REGULATION

BackgroundConflicts are inherent to all groups and organizations, and most conflicts are resolved through mediation or negotiation. In conflict negotiation, predicting the preference information of opponents is of great significance to solve conflict problems and reduce negotiation costs. The key condition is that one obtains the preferences of other decision makers from cognitive psychology in order to take the initiative in conflict negotiation with multiple decision makers (DMS). In other words, the most important thing in conflict is to identify the intentions and preferences of other discourse markers from the perspective of psychological cognition. Mastering the preference ranking of opponents may lead to some results of conflict, which can help decision makers calmly face the tension in the process of conflict and predict the next strategy more accurately. For decision makers, how to adjust their emotions in the negotiation is particularly important.Research objects and methodsUnder the framework of conflict resolution graph model (GMCR) of cognitive psychology, a method to obtain DM preference in multiple DM conflicts is constructed. Through reverse thinking, this method establishes three mathematical models: Nash, generalized sub rationality and sequence stability. These mathematical models can be used to obtain the minimum constraints of DM with unknown preferences. Achieving balance in conflict requires minimal constraints. This method allows other decision makers to obtain the preference ranking of their opponents on the premise that the conflict results are known. In turn, these preference rankings can balance known results. This study also used the questionnaire method to investigate the emotional micro behavior of each group in the negotiation process. This scale is used to measure the relationship between three independent variables: self accommodation, accommodation of others and the feeling of the degree to which others accommodate themselves. It includes 20 statements, with responses ranging from “almost always” (score 1) to “almost none” (score 5), with a total score between 20 (lowest accommodation) and 100 (highest accommodation).ResultsThe method was applied to the conflict analysis of water pollution in Lanzhou. There are three reasons for this conflict: Lanzhou Veolia Water Company, Sinopec Lanzhou branch and the local government. Firstly, the GMCR model of the above conflict is established. Then, the preferences of Lanzhou Veolia Water Company and Sinopec Lanzhou branch are analyzed. Finally, using the above mathematical model, they can obtain the preference ranking of their opponents - local governments, which makes them invincible in conflict negotiations. In addition, the theoretical results are consistent with the actual conflict situation. At the same time, the feasibility and effectiveness of this method are verified. The results showed that the scores of the four dimensions of emotion regulation in the first two groups were less than 2 points, and the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). After 8 weeks of emotion regulation intervention, the average scores of initiative, negotiation psychological mastery, tension evaluation and conflict attitude in the intervention group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.01).ConclusionThe main contribution of this paper is to establish a mathematical model, which can be used to obtain the preference ranking of DM for ideal equilibrium. When obtaining the preference ranking of the main decision-makers, the mediator can guide the strategy choice of each decision-maker in the conflict and control the final result of the conflict. The results of this study provide a new and valuable perspective for conflict negotiation of multi discourse markers from the perspective of psychological cognition. This work can be extended to relative preferences or partially known preferences, because some DM preference information may be partially obtained. To sum up, through the comparative study of decision-makers' emotional behavior, this study found that emotional regulation can improve decision-makers' emotions in the negotiation process, not only solve conflicts more calmly, but also enable decision-makers to face difficulties and setbacks rationally, which is worthy of promotion.AcknowledgementsSupported by projects grant from Jiangsu Normal University (Grant No.19XSRX001), Philosophy and Social Science Research in Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province (Grant No.2019SJA0922), and Humanities and Social Sciences Fund Planning Project of the Ministry of Education (Grant No. 18YJA630128).

Different Drummers: Military Culture and Its Discontents

Different Drummers: Military Culture and Its Discontents

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF REFUGEE RIGHTS IN SOUTH AFRICA

This article critically examines the nature and scope of the type of refugee protection offered by South Africa to people fleeing their home countries. It offers an analytical demonstration of how South Africa has gradually developed conflicted and ambivalent attitudes towards the protection of refugees and asylum seekers. South Africa’s conflicted and ambivalent attitudes towards refugee protection are evident in several amendments made to the refugee regime, to restrict the enjoyment of refugees’ socio-economic protection. The purpose of this article is therefore to demonstrate that the ongoing amendments to the refugee legal framework – without harmonisation with socio-economic laws – increasingly result in the disappearance of refugee rights. This, in turn, results in the creation of disgruntled refugees; through protests, they express their dissatisfaction with ineffective protection, and consequently demand to be resettled or relocated to other countries for better and effective protection.

Chaucer's Prayers: Writing Christian and Pagan Devotion

Chaucer's Prayers: Writing Christian and Pagan Devotion

Mark Twain's Civil War: “The Private History of a Campaign That Failed”

Mark Twain's Civil War: “The Private History of a Campaign That Failed”

The Luit in Bhupen Hazarika’s Songs: A Metaphor for Exploring Assam’s Linguistic and Ethnic Politics

The river Brahmaputra, also known as Luit, has always occupied an important place in the cultural mindscape of the people of Assam, a state in the northeast of India. A source of great pride because of its sheer size and the myths and lore associated with it, it has nevertheless brought untold misery to people over the years because of annual flooding. Authors and musicians of the land have found in the Luit an apt metaphor to tell stories of love, loss, belonging and pain. In the songs of Bhupen Hazarika (1926-2011), a renowned music composer from Assam, the Brahmaputra becomes a character through which the poet expresses both his anguish at the sufferings of the masses and his joy at the all- embracing nature of the valley. In songs like “Mahabahu Brahmaputra”, Hazarika tries to appeal to the people of Assam to maintain harmony and promote the land as one of plurality and hospitality. This song becomes significant when seen in the context of the Assam movement (a six-year long agitation to halt the illegal migration of people from neighbouring Bangladesh) and Hazarika’s own conflicted attitude towards it. This article is an attempt to examine how the Luit has been represented in a selection of Hazarika’s songs – the ways the river becomes a potent presence of deeply political and social overtones and a metaphor to underscore the turbulent history of Assam.

Investigating the Effect of Leadership Styles on Conflict Resolution Methods and Attitudes of Employees of Yazd Electricity Distribution Company

Investigating the Effect of Leadership Styles on Conflict Resolution Methods and Attitudes of Employees of Yazd Electricity Distribution Company

A bright side of sadness: The depolarizing role of sadness in intergroup conflicts

AbstractIntractable conflicts constitute violent and threatening environments that lead to intense emotions and polarized attitudes. Sadness is one emotion frequently elicited by the price of such conflicts. This investigation characterized the effects of sadness on conflict‐related information processing and attitudes in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Findings from four experimental studies suggest that both incidental and integral sadness can induce a depolarization of political attitudes. In Study 1 (N = 163), sadness reduced the effect of political ideology on conflict‐related decisions. Sadness reduced the effect of political ideology on in‐group bias in resource allocation in Studies 2 (N = 213) and 4 (N = 274), willingness to negotiate in Studies 1 and 3 (N = 174), and openness to information supporting the out‐group's perspective (Study 4). Overall, in addition to its more negative implications, these results suggest that sadness (compared to both the non‐emotional and anger conditions) may have a bright side, since it may induce depolarization of political attitudes in intractable conflicts.

Autonomous Peace? The Bangsamoro Region in the Philippines Beyond the 2014 Agreement

What kind of peace has emerged in the Bangsamoro region in the Philippines after the 2014 peace agreement? And how does it matter for the prospects of sustainable peace and development? The peace deal between the government of Philippines and the armed group Moro Islamic Liberation Front builds on the establishment of a new autonomous region. The new autonomy has the potential to end a prolonged cycle of armed rebellions. But if it fails to deliver the expected peace dividends, it could also lead to escalating violence. This article uses the Peace Triangle as a conceptual tool to analyse the current status of peace in Bangsamoro. As such, it advances a theoretical understanding of peace that focuses on how autonomy solutions impact on conflict issues, violent behaviour, and conflict attitudes and aid an assessment of the longer term prospects of peace in the wake of autonomy.

Incroyable and Merveilleuse: The Politics of Fashion in Balzac’s Les Chouans

ABSTRACT In Les Chouans, Balzac casts two central characters – Corentin and Marie de Verneuil – as an Incroyable and a Merveilleuse, extravagantly-dressed figures from the revolutionary era. Analysing the historical and cultural significance of the Incroyable and the Merveilleuse underscores an ambiguity inherent in this novel, as these dandies (here, sent to disable royalist forces) were known for opposing the Revolution. Corentin and Marie de Verneuil, through their remarkable attire, offer an explicit – but ultimately unclear – expression of their political convictions, one that suggests a conflicted attitude towards the historical change they are sent to effect.

PEACE EDUCATION BASED ON LOCAL WISDOM OF PELA GANDONG IN SOCIAL SCIENCE

The post-conflict recovery effort in Ambon, Maluku, which was the largest civil conflict after the collapse of the New Order, was not only needed by the survivors of the conflict. But also by the generation that did not experience the bloody conflict. Like students in SMPN 9 Ambon City and SMPN 4 Salahutu Liang Central Maluku who are the next generation of Maluku and of course who will maintain Ambon peace in the future. The purpose of this study is to describe how Social Science Education integrated the value of peace education based on local wisdom pela gandong. This research was conducted in January 2018 and continued in November 2019. The research method uses descriptive qualitative case study approach. Data collection was carried out by means of literature study, interviews, participatory observation, and document analysis. The results showed, with the existence of social conflict material in Social Science Education which was then integrated with Ambon conflict material and peace education based on Pela Gandong. Thus, students have improved both in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes in understanding conflict and peace education through Social Science Education. At the same time cut off the trauma, mutual suspicion and hatred experienced by students so far.