Introduction to Improving Arab-Jewish Relations in Israel: Theory and Practice in Coexistence Educational Programs

Israeli Jewish and Arab experts within Israel have developed innovative intergroup relations programs, educational efforts designed to improve relations between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. Social scientists, educators, and practitioners on both sides of the Arab-Jewish conflict have dedicated themselves to lessening the hostility between these two groups within Israel through coexistence educational training. This issue presents theory, methods, and data from these coexistence educational programs. The introductory article presents a brief history of this conflict; the groups' differing perceptions regarding the dispute; some information about the role of culture, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity in the discord; and some of the social psychological processes that perpetuate and recreate the hostilities. Last, it provides a brief preface of this issue's articles.     

Theoretical, Empirical, and Practical Approaches to Intergroup Conflict

The study of intergroup relations has long been an interest of social scientists, particularly members of The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. The articles in this issue offer a wide variety of theoretical, empirical, and practical approaches to understanding and resolving national and international group conflict. This introductory article summarizes the original social psychological work that laid the foundation for contemporary thinking on intergroup relations, and presents an overview of each of the contributions in this issue. Also discussed are applications of social psychology to real-world intergroup conflicts.     

Cooperation and Conflict within Groups: Bridging Intragroup and Intergroup Processes

Whereas intragroup processes and intergroup relations are often assumed to reflect discrete processes and cooperation and conflict to represent alternative outcomes, the present article focuses on intergroup dynamics within a shared group identity and challenges traditional views of cooperation and conflict primarily as the respective positive and negative outcomes of these dynamics. Drawing on the ideas, theories, and evidence presented in other articles in this volume, we (1) consider the dynamic tension between stability and change that exists within hierarchical groups; (2) discuss the different perspectives that advantaged and disadvantaged subgroups within a larger group have regarding this tension; (3) propose that cooperation and conflict should be viewed as developmental processes in the life of a group; (4) suggest that constructive resolution of conflict depends upon whether subgroups manage to satisfy the different needs of each group, and (5) conclude by discussing the personal, social, and policy implications of this perspective.     

Understanding Bias toward Latinos: Discrimination, Dimensions of Difference, and Experience of Exclusion

White–Black relations have historically been the defining form of intergroup relations in the study of prejudice and discrimination. The present article suggests that there are limitations to applying this model to understanding bias toward other groups and proposes that a comprehensive view of the dynamics of the Anglos' bias toward Latinos requires consideration of the distinctive elements of this form of intergroup relations. In four empirical studies, we experimentally document discrimination against Latinos (Study 1), explore the potential dimensions that underlie bias against Latinos (Study 2), and examine the effect of a particular social identity cue, accentedness, on perceptions of acceptance and belongingness of Latinos and members of other groups (Studies 3 and 4). These studies consider general processes of prejudice and identify how particular facets of bias against Latinos can shape their experiences and, taken together, illustrate how understanding bias against Latinos can reciprocally inform contemporary theories of prejudice.     

Looking Back as We Look Ahead: Integrating Research, Theory, and Practice on Intergroup Relations

This article looks back at the origins of intergroup relations in social psychology just over 50 years ago. Pioneers in the field—Robin Williams, Gordon Allport, and Kurt Lewin—were all deeply concerned with integrating social science and social action. We seek to re-center this mutuality of research and practice, and to expand the focus of intergroup relations from prejudice reduction to social inclusion. The articles in this issue document cutting-edge research, theory, and practice, and make substantive contributions to the future of intergroup relations. A unique feature of this issue is a set of commentaries by prominent scholars and practitioners in the fields of intergroup relations and education. Walter Stephan, James Banks, Thomas Pettigrew, and Patricia Gurin each reflect on the collection of articles through the lens of their own personal and professional biographies to help define the intersections of research, theory, and practice on intergroup relations.     

Introduction to the Issue

Gordon Willard Allport was born more than 100 years ago on November 11, 1897. In honor of the centennial of his birth, this issue of the Journal presents a collection of articles on the social psychology of prejudice and intergroup relations—the field that Allport pioneered with his classic 1954 book, The Nature of Prejudice. The articles provide insights into both perpetrators and targets of prejudice and the conflict that often takes place between members of different societal groups. In the tradition of Gordon Allport, these articles demonstrate that it is possible for social science to make theoretical, empirical, and practical contributions to the understanding and resolution of social problems. This introductory article high-lights Allport's contributions to the social psychology of prejudice and intergroup relations. Overviews of the articles in this issue are also provided, and the recurring theoretical and methodological approaches are considered.     

Coping With the Jewish-Arab Conflict: A Comparison Among Three Models

Three models are surveyed and compared with regard to their efficacy in promoting change in intergroup attitudes and relations, particularly in Israel's Jewish-Arab relationships: the contact model, the information model, and the metacognitive model. The first two models have been widely applied to intergroup conflict, including the Jewish-Arab situation, but both have faced some serious problems. Proposed as an alternative, the metacognitive model could address problems faced by the contact and information models. The article discusses the theoretical aspects and practical applications of the model, and proposes how it can be combined with the contact and information models in order to increase the efficacy of coping with intractable cases of intergroup relations such as the Jewish-Arab conflict.     

Nature, Rationale, and Effectiveness of Education for Coexistence

Coexistence is a state of mind shared by society members who recognize the rights of another group to exist peacefully as a legitimate, equal partner with whom disagreements have to be resolved in nonviolent ways. Achieving coexistence is a great challenge because of the negative relations between the two groups. These negative relations, the result of ethnocentric beliefs or intractable conflict, are widely shared and their abolition requires deep societal change. Education for coexistence plays an important function in this change. The article suggests that when negative relations are based on ethnocentrism, education for coexistence plays a major role in changing the nature of the relations. But when negative relations derive from intergroup conflict, education for coexistence has less influence.     

Dialogue and Social Change: An Interdisciplinary and Transformative History

Intergroup dialogue is an interdisciplinary field of practice that seeks to improve intergroup relations and effect social change. The use of dialogue as a method is growing within numerous social science professions including social work, and an understanding of the origins of dialogue will allow current practitioners to place their work within a larger context. This article provides a historical overview of the application of dialogue theory and methods, an analysis of the relationship between social constructionism and intergroup dialogue, and provides important directions for social workers who can utilize intergroup dialogue to promote social justice.     

Postconflict Reconciliation: Intergroup Forgiveness and Implicit Biases in Northern Ireland

Even after a conflict has formally ended, there is still a need for postconflict reconciliation and the building of mutual forgiveness and trust between communities. This article addresses psychological processes crucial to moving beyond a history of violent sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland. We investigated the predictors of intergroup forgiveness, in terms of intergroup emotions, infrahumanization, empathy, and intergroup contact. Intergroup trust and measures of implicit intergroup bias were also explored in this area of real intergroup conflict. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for postconflict reconciliation in Northern Ireland and other conflict areas.     

Using Empathy to Improve Intergroup Attitudes and Relations

Recently, social psychologists have given considerable attention to the possibility that empathy can be used to improve intergroup attitudes and relations. For this possibility to bear practical fruit, it is important to know what is meant by empathy because different researchers use the term to refer to different psychological states. It is also important to understand how each of these empathy states might affect intergroup relations by reviewing theory and research on the psychological processes involved, and it is important to consider the limitations of each form of empathy as a source of improved intergroup relations. Finally, it is important to consider the role of different empathy states in existing programs designed to improve intergroup relations, whether in protracted political conflicts, in educational settings, or via media. In this article, we pursue each of these goals.     

Bridging the Researcher-Practitioner Divide in Intergroup Relations

Editors' introduction: Walter Stephan's interest in intergroup relations grew from his early involvement in intercultural relations. He spent substantial time in Latin America as well as Vietnam during his college years. These experiences influenced his choice to study social psychology at the University of Minnesota. His first foray into intergroup relations came with his move to Austin, Texas, in 1971. A Court mandate ordered schools to be desegregated, and Stephan examined the effects of school desegregation there on students' self-esteem and intergroup attitudes. His field research on the effects of desegregation as well as classroom interventions to improve intergroup relations was complemented by his laboratory research on intergroup biases, intergroup threat, intergroup anxiety, and empathy. Stephan brings this lifetime of involvement in both basic and applied research, and deep concern for effective practice and humanistic philosophy, to his commentary. He opens the commentaries with an elucidation of the difficulties in, and benefits of, the central thrust of this volume: the researcher-practitioner collaboration. He paints portraits of practitioners, researchers, and practitioner-researchers, and classifies articles in this issue accordingly. He notes the difficulties among the various parties interested in improving intergroup relations, spanning from simple lack of knowledge to lack of contact to lack of meaningful ways to interact. However, potential benefits of collaboration are abundant for all parties, and Stephan proposes a number of ways in which such partnerships could be actualized.     

How We Can Promote Behavior That Serves All of Us in the Future

The health and vitality of relationships, groups, and society at large is strongly challenged by social dilemmas or conflicts between short-term self-interest and long-term collective interest. Pollution, depletion of natural resources, and intergroup conflict can be characterized as examples of urgent social dilemmas. This article advances a conceptual framework in which we analyze social dilemmas in terms of social and temporal concerns relevant to the social (individual vs. collective) and temporal (short-term vs. long-term) conflicts underlying social dilemmas. We discuss the plasticity of social orientations (altruism, cooperation, egalitarianism, individualism, competition, aggression) and temporal orientations (short-term orientation, future orientation), and illustrate their "logical effects" and "paradoxical effects" on behavior that supports collectively desired outcomes. This analysis enables us to suggest a set of novel recommendations for policy and intervention to help solve various social dilemmas in contemporary society.     

Collective Action—and Then What?

Two aspects of the social psychology of collective action are of particular interest to social movement organizers and activists: how to motivate people to engage in collective action, and how to use collective action to create social change. The second question remains almost untouched within social psychology. The present article delineates research from political science and sociology concerning variables that moderate the effectiveness of collective action and maps these variables against intergroup research. Within intergroup social psychology, there is a theoretical literature on what needs to be done to achieve change (e.g., changing identification, social norms, or perceptions of legitimacy, stability, permeability). The article considers possible testable hypotheses concerning the outcomes of collective action which can be derived from intergroup research and from the synthesis of the three disciplines. For theoreticians and practitioners alike, a program of research which addresses the social-psychological outcomes of collective action and links these to identities, norms, intentions, and support for social change in bystanders, protagonists, and opponents has a great deal of interest.     

The Racial Divide in Response to the Aftermath of Katrina: A Boundary Condition for Common Ingroup Identity Model

The disastrous aftermath of Katrina brought to light a great rift between Blacks and Whites in the United States. Polls taken shortly after the disaster gave clear indication that many Blacks felt that the response to Katrina was slowed by racism. At the same time, many Whites felt that the residents of New Orleans were to blame for their predicament. To understand the causal role ethnic identity plays in shaping individuals' perceptions, the present study experimentally manipulated Whites' social identification and measured their perceptions of the Katrina disaster's aftermath. Our results indicate that White Americans exhibited greater prejudice when thinking of themselves as "American" (an identity seemingly inclusive of Blacks) than when identifying as "White American" or "European American" (an identity that seemingly excludes Blacks). This finding demonstrates a boundary condition to the Common Ingroup Identity Model, such that a dual identity is more conducive to positive intergroup relations when strong racial assumptions exist about the overarching identity.     

The Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations: Can Research Inform Practice?

In the four decades since the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka desegregation decision, social psychologists have generally avoided direct involvement in policy making in thearena of intergroup relations. A review of research and theory on the social psychology of intergroup relations since the 1960s is used to argue that it is time to renew such involvement. In recent years, policy making in the United States has shifted from assimilationism to various forms of pluralist or multicultural politics. This paper suggests that the route to multiculturalism may be perilous unless better informed by relevant social psychological research.     

When Race Becomes Even More Complex: Toward Understanding the Landscape of Multiracial Identity and Experiences

The explosion in the number of people coming from a multiracial heritage has generated an increased need for understanding the experiences and consequences associated with coming from a multiracial background. In addition, the emergence of a multiracial identity challenges current thinking about race, forcing scholars to generate new ideas about intergroup relations, racial stigmatization, social identity, social perception, discrimination, and the intersectionality of race with other social categories such as social class. The present issue brings together research and theory in psychology, sociology, education, culture studies, and public policy surrounding multiracial identity and introduces new advances in thinking about race, intergroup relations, and racial identity. In exploring multiracial identity, the issue will reexamine conceptualization of race and racial identification by examining the social experiences of multiracial individuals.     

The Use of the Group and Group Work Techniques in Resolving Interethnic Conflict

This article explores the area of interethnic conflict and, based on a case study involving a dialogue group of American Arabs and Jews, proposes a conflict resolution model that, combined with group process and group techniques, might be used to reduce tension and promote understanding among other ethnic groups in conflict. The model was successfully used in Los Angeles to engage the disputants in social action during a five year period and shows promise of being employed in a new form of "intergroup work."     

Promoting Coexistence by Means of Conflict Education: The MACBE Model

This article presents a conflict education program designed to restore relationships among adversaries experiencing protracted, seemingly intractable intergroup conflict. It is designed on the basis of a systems model. The underlying assumption is that breaking the escalation cycle and ameliorating the adversaries' relationships requires a comprehensive intervention. Consequently, the curriculum imparts knowledge about conflict dynamics and teaches constructive conflict resolution skills, enhancing the probability of behavior and attitude change. The program is deemed relevant to efforts of improving Arab-Jewish relations in Israel. Implementation of the intervention requires ample resources, cooperation of local communities, and forbearance of program initiators and participants, which rarely exist in tandem. Nonetheless, even partial implementation can contribute to peaceful coexistence of Arabs and Jews.     

The Psychology of Prejudice: Ingroup Love and Outgroup Hate?

Allport (1954) recognized that attachment to one's ingroups does not necessarily require hostility toward outgroups. Yet the prevailing approach to the study of ethnocentrism, ingroup bias, and prejudice presumes that ingroup love and outgroup hate are reciprocally related. Findings from both cross-cultural research and laboratory experiments support the alternative view that ingroup identification is independent of negative attitudes toward outgroups and that much ingroup bias and intergroup discrimination is motivated by preferential treatment of ingroup members rather than direct hostility toward outgroup members. Thus to understand the roots of prejudice and discrimination requires first of all a better understanding of the functions that ingroup formation and identification serve for human beings. This article reviews research and theory on the motivations for maintenance of ingroup boundaries and the implications of ingroup boundary protection for intergroup relations, conflict, and conflict prevention.