Exposure to Wartime Trauma Decreases Positive Emotions and Altruism Toward Rival Out-Groups (But Not Nonrival Out-Groups): A Survey Experiment in a Field Setting Among Syrian Refugees

Hall, Jonathan; Kahn, Dennis T.

doi:10.1177/1948550619876631

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Torture ignited their WTELS-F, which helped their resilience and PTG. Similar to these seemingly counterintuitive results, the research found that a high degree of exposure to wartime trauma was associated with more positive emotional regard and altruism (e.g., Hall & Kahn, 2020). However, the mechanisms underlying this association are yet to be examined.…”

Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Are torture survivors more resilient and develop higher PTG, than nontortured refugees?: The role of will to exist, live, and survive: A replication and extension.

Kira¹,

Aljakoub²,

Ibraheem³

et al. 2023

Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology

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One study found that torture survivors are more resilient and develop higher posttraumatic growth (PTG) than nontortured refugees and suggested that this is due to their higher group identity salience. Will to exist, live, survive, and fight (WTELS-F) is intimately related to identity salience. The present study aims to check the replicability of these earlier counterintuitive findings and if potentially higher WTELS-F in torture survivors explains these differences. Using a sample of 891 internally displaced Syrians (461 were torture survivors) and measures for resilience, social support, PTG, and WTELS-F, we analyzed the differences between tortured and nontortured in the measured variables. We used structural equation modeling to check if torture predicts higher WTELS-F that mediates a higher resilience and PTG in torture survivors. Results replicated the earlier findings. Torture predicts higher WTELS-F that mediated its effects on resilience and PTG in torture survivors. The clinical implications of the results were briefly discussed. Public Significance StatementThe study provided evidence of the underlying dynamics behind torture survivors' higher resilience and PTG compared to other nontortured refugees and internally displaced. Torture primed their will to exist, live, survive, and fight and stimulated their resilience and PTG.

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Section: Conclusion and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Are torture survivors more resilient and develop higher PTG, than nontortured refugees?: The role of will to exist, live, and survive: A replication and extension.

Kira¹,

Aljakoub²,

Ibraheem³

et al. 2023

Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology

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show abstract

“…The only two groups for whom we do not find significantly positive effects are Shias and Alawites. This might be explained by the fact that these groups were most implicated in the fighting ( Hall and Kahn, 2020 ).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Even more importantly, in contrast to most other people, refugees share particularly salient and potentially traumatic experiences that forced them to leave their home country. People’s experiences of violence, war, and death ( Hall and Kahn, 2020 ; Hall et al, 2021 ), as well as the varied mental health trajectories that unfold in response to such experiences ( Canevello et al, 2021 ), may plausibly have had a lasting impact on their perceptions and shape the lens through which they view the people they meet in their new environment. Similarly, the refugees’ experiences with institutions in their home country in times of violence and war may shape the lens through which they view institutions in the host country.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Exposure to violence and, in particular, to such mass-scale and indiscriminate violence as experienced in Syria and Iraq, can trigger strong threat perceptions and anxiety (e.g., Kamans et al, 2011 ; Schmid and Muldoon, 2013 ; Hall and Kahn, 2020 ; Canevello et al, 2021 ; Hall et al, 2021 ). For example, observing severe violence or experiencing life-threatening events can shatter people’s basic perceptions about the world as a safe place, one’s role in it, and in particular one’s vulnerability ( Janoff-Bulman, 1992 ; Cassar et al, 2013 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trauma and Trust: How War Exposure Shapes Social and Institutional Trust Among Refugees

Hall

Werner

2022

Front. Psychol.

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The brutal wars in Iraq, Syria and now Ukraine have caused a massive influx of refugees to Europe. Turkey alone has received more than 4.8 million refugees. An important precondition for their economic and social incorporation is trust: refugees need to trust the citizens as well as the state and the justice system to find their place in the host country. Yet refugees’ propensity to trust may be affected by cultural differences between their home and host countries, their personal conflict exposure and the experiences they had on the run. This study investigates how individual differences in exposure to armed conflict and institutional breakdown shape two types of trust among refugees: Generalized social trust and trust in the institutions of the settlement country. We survey a large and diverse sample of refugees from Syria and Iraq living in Turkish communities and deploy well-established measures of conflict exposure, posttraumatic stress, and posttraumatic growth. We find that higher degrees of conflict exposure are positively related to social trust, and to trust in courts and the police. These positive findings are largely driven by refugees who had very personal and emotionally powerful experiences. The psychological mechanism of posttraumatic growth cannot explain these findings, however, suggesting positive experiences of cooperation in the midst of war and displacement are potentially a better explanation for this finding than positive psychological changes resulting from trauma. At the same time, conflict exposure is negatively related to trust in political institutions. Posttraumatic stress may be the mechanism behind this result. We discuss the implications of these findings for the integration of war refugees—a topic that is tragically of great relevance today.

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“…

Empathy has been identified as an important predictor of improved intergroup relations and prosocial behaviour across group lines (Batson et al, 1997), particularly in conflict settings (e.g. Hall & Kahn, 2020;Hasson et al, 2018;Taylor et al, 2020a). Empathy has also been found to mediate the link between intergroup contact and prejudice reduction (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2008).

…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Predictors of out‐group empathy among majority and minority children in a conflict‐affected society

2022

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Empathy has been identified as an important predictor of improved intergroup relations and prosocial behaviour across group lines (Batson et al., 1997), particularly in conflict settings (e.g. Hall & Kahn, 2020;Hasson et al., 2018;Taylor et al., 2020a). Empathy has also been found to mediate the link between intergroup contact and prejudice reduction (Pettigrew & Tropp, 2008). In settings of intergroup conflict, specifically, empathy has also been proposed to be a mechanism

show abstract

Exposure to Wartime Trauma Decreases Positive Emotions and Altruism Toward Rival Out-Groups (But Not Nonrival Out-Groups): A Survey Experiment in a Field Setting Among Syrian Refugees

Cited by 14 publications

References 27 publications

Are torture survivors more resilient and develop higher PTG, than nontortured refugees?: The role of will to exist, live, and survive: A replication and extension.

Are torture survivors more resilient and develop higher PTG, than nontortured refugees?: The role of will to exist, live, and survive: A replication and extension.

Trauma and Trust: How War Exposure Shapes Social and Institutional Trust Among Refugees

Predictors of out‐group empathy among majority and minority children in a conflict‐affected society

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