Contact with former adversaries through mass‐media is linked to forgiveness after dyadic and multi‐ethnic conflicts

Abstract

Four correlational studies (N Albanians = 232, N Serbs = 129, N Bosniaks = 147, N Croats = 367) and one experimental study (N Bosniaks = 682), investigated the link between massmediated contact (i.e., information about former adversaries from the mass media) and forgiveness towards former adversaries in post-conflict societies. Specifically, we tested the association between positive and negative mass-mediated contact with one former adversary and forgiveness towards this former adversary (i.e., a primary transfer effect, Studies 1-4) and another former adversary (i.e., a secondary transfer effect, Studies 2-4). Positive mass-mediated contact with one former adversary was linked to greater forgiveness towards that former adversary and another former adversary.Intergroup trust mediated the primary transfer effect of positive mass-mediated contact, whereas generalization of trust and forgiveness from one former adversary to another mediated the secondary transfer effect. Our results underline the important role of positive but not negative mass-mediated contact with former adversaries in reconciliation.

Carry‐over effect of single media exposure and mass‐mediated contact with remote outgroups: From asylum seekers in Europe to an Israeli local outgroup

“…These results are consistent with previous findings showing that direct reactions to distant outgroups posing a threat (e.g., intolerance toward perceived negative economic consequences or threat to European culture by outgroup values and ideologies) generalize to local outgroups, which are perceived as similar to the distant outgroup (Bouman et al, 2014, 2015). In line with the literature (Rupar et al, 2022), the findings of Study 2 revealed a carry‐over effect of positive mass‐mediated contact with asylum seekers in Europe on attitudes toward asylum seekers in Israel; that is, the more frequently Israeli Jews consumed positive stories about asylum seekers in Europe, the more positive their attitudes toward the local minority—asylum seekers in Israel—became. We may assume that examples of successful integration of asylum seekers in the European Union and their contribution to the host countries may lead to more tolerance toward their culturally similar counterparts in Israel and may spur hope for the successful integration of asylum seekers in Israel and their contribution to Israeli society.…”

Change in anti‐COVID‐19 behaviour and anti‐immigrant prejudice during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Longitudinal evidence from five European countries

“…During the COVID-19 pandemic, interpersonal contact in general and intergroup contact in particular were reduced (Meleady et al, 2021), making mass-media a more relevant source of information about outgroups. Whereas previous research documented that direct positive contact is usually more frequent than direct negative contact (Graf et al, 2014), this ratio is mostly reversed in the case of mass mediated contact, with negative content prevailing over positive content especially in the case of the news (in post-conflict societies: Rupar et al, 2022;with respect to immigrants: Visintin et al, 2017). Consequently, when direct positive contact becomes rarer during crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it is especially important that mass media balance negative and positive information about outgroups.…”