Newly published: Peacebuilding depends on where you live
What really helps people reconcile after war? Is it the friendships we build across group lines, or the level of everyday contact between different ethnic groups in our communities?
A new study, published in the British Journal of Social Psychology, reveals that the broader social context – especially living in communities with frequent and positive intergroup contact – matters more than personal friendships when it comes to fostering peace and reconciliation. The study highlights the importance of creating communities where different social groups meet and interact frequently and positively.
The study in short
Central terminology
Personal contact: Individual-level contact, for example how many friends one has that are members of ethnic outgroups
Context-level contact:Context-level contact, meaning how much inter-ethnic contact there is in a community where one lives, independent of one’s personal contact experience.
Study method
Data was collected through in-person surveys from around 4,500 young people (ages 15–29) representing both ethnic majority and minority groups from five Western Balkan countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo). Questions included intergroup contact at both individual and contextual level and a range of reconciliation-oriented attitudes such as intergroup trust and forgiveness.
Results
Reconciliation depends less on personal ties and more on the social context. By analyzing the survey responses from several young people in former Yugoslavian countries, the results show that the context where young people live matters most. When the surrounding environment includes many and positive relations between groups, the chances for long-term reconciliation increase – more so than through individual contacts alone.
Illustration: civilservicelocal from Pixabay.
What we show in this work is that where you live, rather than who you know, is more important for how you think and feel towards other social groups
The research group leader Sabina Čehajić-Clancy – who’s research focus is to understand how to build peaceful intergroup relations – comments on the study:
Sabina Čehajić-Clancy.
– Up until now, one of the main social-psychological tools to build peaceful and harmonious intergroup relations has been intergroup contact, such as having friends from other groups. What we show in this work is that where you live, rather than who you know, is more important for how you think and feel towards other social groups. These findings indicate that creating more integrated communities where individuals regularly engage in meaningful and positive intergroup interactions, may be vital for preventing future conflict and fostering reconciled intergroup relations.
According to Sabina Čehajić-Clancy, the findings provide valuable insights for policymakers and organizations working to build more peaceful societies after conflict.
Intergroup conflicts are increasingly rising and their harmful effects often endure even after peace agreements have been reached. This underscores the need to identify evidence-based and effective interventions to improve intergroup relations in contexts affected or threatened by conflict.
