The main goal of the research project “Using Self-Affirmation to Reduce Intergroup Hostility and Facilitate Intergroup Contact in the Israel-Palestinian Conflict” is to develop effective interventions to reduce intergroup hostility and facilitate intergroup contact. In many countries, intergroup tensions and hostilities are prevalent or even rising. For example, Anti-Arab sentiments in Israel, and Anti-Arab attitudes in Germany and the U.S. increased in the aftermath of the October 7th terrorist attacks and the war in Gaza. Events such as these highlight the need to not only better understand the psychological dynamics of such intergroup conflicts but ideally develop tools (e.g., interventions) to prevent and contain them. According to psychological theories, perceived threats can be counteracted by affirming the self – prompting participants to reflect on their self-integrity. This approach will be further developed by:

(a) testing it in different contexts related to the currently ongoing Israel-Palestinian conflict – using different samples with different ideological and religious backgrounds, including Israelis and Palestinians in Israel, far-left and far-right wingers in Germany, religious
Muslims, as well as Pro-Palestinian and Pro-Israeli students in the U.S.
(b) coupling self-affirmation interventions with other interventions (naïve realism, perspective taking, and mental contrasting) to potentiate their effectiveness using a two-step procedure, and
(c) designing easy-to-deliver video interventions that can be applied in the field to reach a broad audience.

The overarching aim is to examine how self-affirmation can be used most effectively to reduce intergroup hostility and promote positive intergroup contact. The results can be disseminated large-scale via social media to help diffuse ongoing and future conflicts. The project is funded by the Ministry of Science and Culture of Lower Saxony and the Volkswagen Foundation as part of the “Research Cooperation Lower Saxony – Israel” programme.