For the vast majority of contemporary Israelis, the Holocaust is an acquired memory. However, ove... more For the vast majority of contemporary Israelis, the Holocaust is an acquired memory. However, over the years its presence has not diminished but rather is on the rise. We describe how perceptions of the Holocaust have changed from “what
Israeliness is not” in the 1940s and 1950s to a core element in Israeli identity. Inspired by Bauer, we present four different and sometimes incompatible voices related to the Holocaust that greatly affect the Israeli society. They are: Never be a passive victim; never forsake your brothers; never be passive bystander; and never be a perpetrator. Experimental evidence related to these voices is also described.
When is greater morality expected of groups that have experienced intergroup victimization? Six e... more When is greater morality expected of groups that have experienced intergroup victimization? Six experiments
illustrate that meaning making for the victims, but not the perpetrators, can lead observers to perceive the victims' descendants as morally obligated to refrain from harming others. Focusing on the lessons of the past
for the victim group increases observers' expectations that contemporary victim group members should know better than harm others. Deriving benefits from a group's past suffering, for both a well-known instance such as the Holocaust or a previously unknown group, elevates victim moral obligations (but not victim moral rights or perpetrator moral obligations). When the descendants of a historically victimized group violate the perceived lesson derived from having suffered—to be more moral—and instead does harm to others, then observers
respond more negatively toward them than harm-doers who lack a victimization history.
Most studies on forgiveness and reconciliation in intergroup conflicts are conducted during the p... more Most studies on forgiveness and reconciliation in intergroup conflicts are conducted during the post resolution stages of conflict. The present research was conducted in the south of Israel to examine the issue of forgiveness among people currently enmeshed in active and violent conflict.
Study 1 was conducted in the Israeli town of Sderot, which for more than a decade has been under frequent rocket fire from neighboring Palestinian Gaza and has also witnessed numerous Israeli retaliatory attacks on Gaza. Study 2 was conducted among residents of towns and communities
close to the Gaza border during the 2014 war. We investigated the potential readiness for mutual forgiveness with Gaza residents, apology, and reparation and help to repair war damage. Mutual Forgiveness received considerable support, but apology and reparations did not. Perspective-taking
vis-à-vis the Palestinians predicted support for mutual forgiveness in the first but not the second study. Acceptance of moral responsibility and dismissal of exonerating cognitions regarding Israel’s conduct in Gaza predicted readiness for apology and reparations. Hence a step towards mutual
forgiveness with the adversarial outgroup is feasible under active conflict mainly because it does not involve culpability.
Critical historical junctures sometimes cause religious or national groups to shift from oneontol... more Critical historical junctures sometimes cause religious or national groups to shift from oneontological and behavioral paradigm to qualitatively different ones. This paper describes apersuasive tool used to justify these shifts: The new policy is portrayed as a reenactmentof an event from the group’s sanctified past. Three such reenactments advocating threevery different types of relations between Halachic Jews and the Land of Israel/Palestine,the nations of the world and the non-Jewish groups residing in the land are examined: TheDiaspora “Do not arouse or awaken love” which warns Jews against antagonistic en-masseJewish immigration to the land; “Shivat Zion,” the classical Zionistic approach, which isinspired by the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon under Emperor Cyrus (6th centuryBCE); and the Conquest of the Land reenactment, the post-1967 religious Zionism approachwhich is inspired by Joshua’s mythical campaign against the idolatrous Canaanite nationsand which advocates exclusive Jewish rights to the land and intolerance of non-Jews. Thesymbologies, group identities and policies deriving from these reenactment metaphors inthe process of Israeli state building are described.
Groups, particularly when immersed in an intractable intergroup conflict, place considerable valu... more Groups, particularly when immersed in an intractable intergroup conflict, place considerable value on protecting and defending their historical group narrative. However, some group members are more narrativeprotective than others. In Study 1, we introduce a new individual-difference measure of motivation to achieve a Firmly Entrenched Narrative ClosurE (FENCE) and test it on several Israeli samples (N = 1132). In Study 2 (N= 120), we show that in-group glorification, right-wing political orientation, and right-wingauthoritarianism, but not attachment to the In-group, nonspecific need for cognitive closure, or need for cognition, predict FENCE motivation and Behavioral Lack of Openness to Counternarratives (BLOC). In Studies 3 and 4, we show using international (N = 24) and Israeli (N = 78) samples that a belief in the zero-sum nature of the conflict is related to FENCE and BLOC. In Study 5, we demonstrate that FENCE affects quality of recall of conflict information. The potential merit of FENCE in accounting for the variability among group members in protecting the group narrative is discussed
ABSTRACT In contrast to the tendency to divide human reasoning into statistical, logical and caus... more ABSTRACT In contrast to the tendency to divide human reasoning into statistical, logical and causal (the “compartmentalized reasoner” approach), I propose two generic reasoning operations, focalizing and linking, in a variety of reasoning tasks. These operations affect sensitivity to judgment-relevant information, and are related to pseudodiagnostic judgments, judgmental confidence, sensitivity to sample size, to base rate, to target information, and to consensus information, false affirmation of the consequent, false denial of the antecedent, and the neglect of not-q in the Wason selection task. It is concluded that the three reasoning literatures, judgment under uncertainty, logical reasoning, and attribution, reflect on the same basic cognitive reasoning processes.
This study investigates (a) whether dysphoric and nondysphoric participants differ in their perce... more This study investigates (a) whether dysphoric and nondysphoric participants differ in their perceptions of social consensus for their behavioral choices and (b) whether one group's perceptions are more accurate than the other's. The findings show that though the two groups were equally inclined to make self-referential judgments, they were made in different directions. Dysphoric participantsunderestimated consensus for their choices, whereas nondysphoric participantsoverestimated consensus. The two groups were equally inaccurate. These findings are discussed in light of the controversy concerning the relative realism of dysphoric and nondysphoric persons.
Depressed and non-depressed participants were compared in their tendency to overgeneralize from a... more Depressed and non-depressed participants were compared in their tendency to overgeneralize from a single instance, which, according to the ‘cognitive distortion’ view is one of the best cognitive indicators of depression. In contrast to previous studies, which asked participants to introspect about their tendency to generalize from different events, we asked participants to make predictions following hypothetical single life events. The first study elicited predictions from negative and positive events. Overall, neither group generalized more than the other. Depressed participants generalized more than non-depressed participants from negative events. Non-depressed participants generalized more from positive events. Depressed, relative to non-depressed participants, were more evenhanded in their generalizations following both positive and negative events. The second study elicited predictions from neutral events. Here too, the two groups did not differ in their degree of generalization. All in all, the findings suggest that, across valences, generalization from a single event to the future is no more a tendency among depressed than among non-depressed individuals.
Price, Pentecost, and Voth (2002) argue that common rather than rare negative future life events ... more Price, Pentecost, and Voth (2002) argue that common rather than rare negative future life events elicit greater indirect self-others comparative optimism. We argue that this finding may reflect a measurement effect: Rare events generate small differences (but large ratios), whereas common events produce larger differences (but smaller ratios). In Study 1, we show that the greater is event's perceived frequency, the greater is the numerical value assigned to express a given degree of risk discrepancy. In Study 2, we found weak negative rather than positive relations between perceived event frequency and the sense of risk discrepancy. Thus, it is crucial to understand how participants relate the two risk probabilities to each other to estimate their indirect comparative optimism.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1990
A study was conducted to assess the psychosocial characteristics of individuals who become involv... more A study was conducted to assess the psychosocial characteristics of individuals who become involved in large group awareness training (LGAT) programs. Prospective participants in The Forum, which has been classified as an LGAT, were compared with nonparticipating peers and with available normative samples on measures of well-being, negative life events, social support, and philosophical orientation. Results revealed that prospective participants were significantly more distressed than peer and normative samples of community residents and had a higher level of impact of recent negative life events compared with peer (but not normative) samples. Prospective participants also held preparticipation values more similar to those espoused by the LGAT than peer or normative samples, and the three groups failed to be distinguished by their levels of social support. The implications of the findings are considered for understanding participation in LGATs and other self-change promoting activities.
In a nationwide study, we explored how Israelis, currently stricken by an intense wave of terrori... more In a nationwide study, we explored how Israelis, currently stricken by an intense wave of terrorism, perceive the risk of being the victim of a terrorist attack. We studied both absolute and comparative (i.e., vis-a-vis other people at the area of residence) perceived controllability and vulnerability. The picture that emerges is one of realism. We found no evidence of the
ABSTRACT Most people judge themselves to be content with their lives. However, they also judge th... more ABSTRACT Most people judge themselves to be content with their lives. However, they also judge themselves to be more content than the others in their group, which is a logical impossibility. In line with previous speculations, the authors found in two studies that comparative contentment judgments were highly related to judgments of one’s own contentment but entirely unrelated to judgments of comparison of others’ contentment. That is, comparative contentment judgments are predominantly self-focused. Researchers asking the question, “How content are you relative to your peers?” should be aware that the response might well be to the question “How content are you?”
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1990
A study was conducted to assess the psychosocial characteristics of individuals who become involv... more A study was conducted to assess the psychosocial characteristics of individuals who become involved in large group awareness training (LGAT) programs. Prospective participants in The Forum, which has been classified as an LGAT, were compared with nonparticipating peers and with available normative samples on measures of well-being, negative life events, social support, and philosophical orientation. Results revealed that prospective participants were significantly more distressed than peer and normative samples of community residents and had a higher level of impact of recent negative life events compared with peer (but not normative) samples. Prospective participants also held preparticipation values more similar to those espoused by the LGAT than peer or normative samples, and the three groups failed to be distinguished by their levels of social support. The implications of the findings are considered for understanding participation in LGATs and other self-change promoting activities.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1989
A study was designed to assess the psychological effects of participation in an intervention that... more A study was designed to assess the psychological effects of participation in an intervention that has been classified as a large group awareness training (LGAT). One hundred and thirty-five participants in the Forum (the successor to the est training and at present the most widespread LGAT) and 73 comparable peer-nominated control Ss completed detailed questionnaires approximately 4-6 weeks pre-and 4-6 weeks posttraining. Participants and nominees also completed similar measures approximately 1 { years later. Both Forum participants and nominees were men and women who were predominantly White, well educated, and of relatively high socioeconomic status. Forum outcome was assessed on a broad array of outcome dimensions (perceived control, life satisfaction, daily coping, social functioning, positive and negative affect, self-esteem, physical health, and symptomatology), using multivariate techniques. The short-term outcome analyses revealed that only perceived control was affected by Forum participation, and no long-term treatment effects were observed. Results suggest that claims about far-reaching positive or negative psychological effects of participation in LGATs such as the Forum may be exaggerated.
In a nationwide study, we explored how Israelis, currently stricken by an intense wave of terrori... more In a nationwide study, we explored how Israelis, currently stricken by an intense wave of terrorism, perceive the risk of being the victim of a terrorist attack. We studied both absolute and comparative (i.e., vis-a-vis other people at the area of residence) perceived controllability and vulnerability. The picture that emerges is one of realism. We found no evidence of the
Can almost all members of a group be judged as better (or worse) than the other people in the sam... more Can almost all members of a group be judged as better (or worse) than the other people in the same group? Apparently yes. In Studies 1–4, members of small intact groups systematically judged their group members as above the group average and above the median on a variety of social traits, even when all group members were judged consecutively. In Studies 5–7, participants judged members of a given positive group as systematically better than the others in the same positive group and members of a given negative group—as worse than the others in the same negative group. This was found in judgments of groups of liked and disliked acquaintances, attractive and unattractive faces, and high- and low-skilled students. The Singular-Target-Focus theory, arguing failure of contrast in member-to-group comparisons, is presented to account for these findings.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2006
The authors examined the relationships between 2 modes of national identification (attachment to ... more The authors examined the relationships between 2 modes of national identification (attachment to the in-group and the in-group's glorification) and reactions to the in-group's moral violations among Israeli students. Data were collected during a period of relative calm in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as during a period of great intensification of this conflict. As expected, in Study 1, the 2 modes of identification had contrasting relationships with group-based guilt: Attachment was positively related whereas glorification was negatively related to group-based guilt for in-group's past infractions. Glorification suppressed the attachment effect but not vice versa. Both relationships were mediated by the use of exonerating cognitions. In Study 2, group-based guilt for the in-group's current wrongdoings was increased by priming critical rather than conventional attachment to the in-group, suggesting a causal effect of mode of identification on the experience of negative group-based emotions.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1996
Five studies showed that people assess vulnerability to future controllable negative life events ... more Five studies showed that people assess vulnerability to future controllable negative life events differently depending on whether it concerns: (a) generalized targets (e.g., the average peer), or (b) concrete and familiar targets (self or nonself). In the former case, adistributionalframework is applied which focuses on available statistical information such as groups’ base-rates. In the latter case, people apply asingularjudgmental perspective and focus on available individuating information such as personal dispositions and preventive actions. This perspective would typically lead to an optimistic bias in favor of concrete and familiar rather than generalized targets. Participants in Study 1 evaluated both self's and a spontaneously selected (non-intimate) peer's risk prospects as lower than those of their average peer in controllable but not uncontrollable future events or controllable and uncontrollable everyday negative events. Study 2 replicated the main findings in direct comparative judgments. In Study 3, verbal accounts and a measure of interest in the base-rate supported the singular-distributional analysis. In Studies 4 and 5, an optimistic bias was found in favor of a randomly assigned member of their small group to whom participants were yoked. These findings suggest that in addition to the classic “illusion of unique invulnerability” (e.g., Perloff & Fetzer, 1986), whereby participants judge themselves to be less vulnerable than the average group-member, there is an “illusion ofnonuniqueinvulnerability,” whereby participants judge also their singular group-members to be less vulnerable than the average group-member. Finally we discuss conditions in which apessimisticrather than the standard optimistic bias might occur in comparative risk comparisons.
People are frequently required to judge how particular group members measure up against others in... more People are frequently required to judge how particular group members measure up against others in their group. According to the local-comparisons-general-standards (LOGE) approach, in these member-togroup comparisons, people fail to use the normatively appropriate local (group) standard and are infelicitously affected by a more general standard (involving instances from outside the judged group). Within positive groups, target group members are judged superior to the other members of the group, and within negative groups, inferior. To date, these nonselective superiority and inferiority biases have been demonstrated solely in judgments about human beings. In 6 experiments, nonselective biases were found in perceptual, affective, and cognitive judgments of nonhuman targets, objects, and concepts, thus supporting a cognitive rather than a social account.
For the vast majority of contemporary Israelis, the Holocaust is an acquired memory. However, ove... more For the vast majority of contemporary Israelis, the Holocaust is an acquired memory. However, over the years its presence has not diminished but rather is on the rise. We describe how perceptions of the Holocaust have changed from “what
Israeliness is not” in the 1940s and 1950s to a core element in Israeli identity. Inspired by Bauer, we present four different and sometimes incompatible voices related to the Holocaust that greatly affect the Israeli society. They are: Never be a passive victim; never forsake your brothers; never be passive bystander; and never be a perpetrator. Experimental evidence related to these voices is also described.
When is greater morality expected of groups that have experienced intergroup victimization? Six e... more When is greater morality expected of groups that have experienced intergroup victimization? Six experiments
illustrate that meaning making for the victims, but not the perpetrators, can lead observers to perceive the victims' descendants as morally obligated to refrain from harming others. Focusing on the lessons of the past
for the victim group increases observers' expectations that contemporary victim group members should know better than harm others. Deriving benefits from a group's past suffering, for both a well-known instance such as the Holocaust or a previously unknown group, elevates victim moral obligations (but not victim moral rights or perpetrator moral obligations). When the descendants of a historically victimized group violate the perceived lesson derived from having suffered—to be more moral—and instead does harm to others, then observers
respond more negatively toward them than harm-doers who lack a victimization history.
Most studies on forgiveness and reconciliation in intergroup conflicts are conducted during the p... more Most studies on forgiveness and reconciliation in intergroup conflicts are conducted during the post resolution stages of conflict. The present research was conducted in the south of Israel to examine the issue of forgiveness among people currently enmeshed in active and violent conflict.
Study 1 was conducted in the Israeli town of Sderot, which for more than a decade has been under frequent rocket fire from neighboring Palestinian Gaza and has also witnessed numerous Israeli retaliatory attacks on Gaza. Study 2 was conducted among residents of towns and communities
close to the Gaza border during the 2014 war. We investigated the potential readiness for mutual forgiveness with Gaza residents, apology, and reparation and help to repair war damage. Mutual Forgiveness received considerable support, but apology and reparations did not. Perspective-taking
vis-à-vis the Palestinians predicted support for mutual forgiveness in the first but not the second study. Acceptance of moral responsibility and dismissal of exonerating cognitions regarding Israel’s conduct in Gaza predicted readiness for apology and reparations. Hence a step towards mutual
forgiveness with the adversarial outgroup is feasible under active conflict mainly because it does not involve culpability.
Critical historical junctures sometimes cause religious or national groups to shift from oneontol... more Critical historical junctures sometimes cause religious or national groups to shift from oneontological and behavioral paradigm to qualitatively different ones. This paper describes apersuasive tool used to justify these shifts: The new policy is portrayed as a reenactmentof an event from the group’s sanctified past. Three such reenactments advocating threevery different types of relations between Halachic Jews and the Land of Israel/Palestine,the nations of the world and the non-Jewish groups residing in the land are examined: TheDiaspora “Do not arouse or awaken love” which warns Jews against antagonistic en-masseJewish immigration to the land; “Shivat Zion,” the classical Zionistic approach, which isinspired by the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon under Emperor Cyrus (6th centuryBCE); and the Conquest of the Land reenactment, the post-1967 religious Zionism approachwhich is inspired by Joshua’s mythical campaign against the idolatrous Canaanite nationsand which advocates exclusive Jewish rights to the land and intolerance of non-Jews. Thesymbologies, group identities and policies deriving from these reenactment metaphors inthe process of Israeli state building are described.
Groups, particularly when immersed in an intractable intergroup conflict, place considerable valu... more Groups, particularly when immersed in an intractable intergroup conflict, place considerable value on protecting and defending their historical group narrative. However, some group members are more narrativeprotective than others. In Study 1, we introduce a new individual-difference measure of motivation to achieve a Firmly Entrenched Narrative ClosurE (FENCE) and test it on several Israeli samples (N = 1132). In Study 2 (N= 120), we show that in-group glorification, right-wing political orientation, and right-wingauthoritarianism, but not attachment to the In-group, nonspecific need for cognitive closure, or need for cognition, predict FENCE motivation and Behavioral Lack of Openness to Counternarratives (BLOC). In Studies 3 and 4, we show using international (N = 24) and Israeli (N = 78) samples that a belief in the zero-sum nature of the conflict is related to FENCE and BLOC. In Study 5, we demonstrate that FENCE affects quality of recall of conflict information. The potential merit of FENCE in accounting for the variability among group members in protecting the group narrative is discussed
ABSTRACT In contrast to the tendency to divide human reasoning into statistical, logical and caus... more ABSTRACT In contrast to the tendency to divide human reasoning into statistical, logical and causal (the “compartmentalized reasoner” approach), I propose two generic reasoning operations, focalizing and linking, in a variety of reasoning tasks. These operations affect sensitivity to judgment-relevant information, and are related to pseudodiagnostic judgments, judgmental confidence, sensitivity to sample size, to base rate, to target information, and to consensus information, false affirmation of the consequent, false denial of the antecedent, and the neglect of not-q in the Wason selection task. It is concluded that the three reasoning literatures, judgment under uncertainty, logical reasoning, and attribution, reflect on the same basic cognitive reasoning processes.
This study investigates (a) whether dysphoric and nondysphoric participants differ in their perce... more This study investigates (a) whether dysphoric and nondysphoric participants differ in their perceptions of social consensus for their behavioral choices and (b) whether one group's perceptions are more accurate than the other's. The findings show that though the two groups were equally inclined to make self-referential judgments, they were made in different directions. Dysphoric participantsunderestimated consensus for their choices, whereas nondysphoric participantsoverestimated consensus. The two groups were equally inaccurate. These findings are discussed in light of the controversy concerning the relative realism of dysphoric and nondysphoric persons.
Depressed and non-depressed participants were compared in their tendency to overgeneralize from a... more Depressed and non-depressed participants were compared in their tendency to overgeneralize from a single instance, which, according to the ‘cognitive distortion’ view is one of the best cognitive indicators of depression. In contrast to previous studies, which asked participants to introspect about their tendency to generalize from different events, we asked participants to make predictions following hypothetical single life events. The first study elicited predictions from negative and positive events. Overall, neither group generalized more than the other. Depressed participants generalized more than non-depressed participants from negative events. Non-depressed participants generalized more from positive events. Depressed, relative to non-depressed participants, were more evenhanded in their generalizations following both positive and negative events. The second study elicited predictions from neutral events. Here too, the two groups did not differ in their degree of generalization. All in all, the findings suggest that, across valences, generalization from a single event to the future is no more a tendency among depressed than among non-depressed individuals.
Price, Pentecost, and Voth (2002) argue that common rather than rare negative future life events ... more Price, Pentecost, and Voth (2002) argue that common rather than rare negative future life events elicit greater indirect self-others comparative optimism. We argue that this finding may reflect a measurement effect: Rare events generate small differences (but large ratios), whereas common events produce larger differences (but smaller ratios). In Study 1, we show that the greater is event's perceived frequency, the greater is the numerical value assigned to express a given degree of risk discrepancy. In Study 2, we found weak negative rather than positive relations between perceived event frequency and the sense of risk discrepancy. Thus, it is crucial to understand how participants relate the two risk probabilities to each other to estimate their indirect comparative optimism.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1990
A study was conducted to assess the psychosocial characteristics of individuals who become involv... more A study was conducted to assess the psychosocial characteristics of individuals who become involved in large group awareness training (LGAT) programs. Prospective participants in The Forum, which has been classified as an LGAT, were compared with nonparticipating peers and with available normative samples on measures of well-being, negative life events, social support, and philosophical orientation. Results revealed that prospective participants were significantly more distressed than peer and normative samples of community residents and had a higher level of impact of recent negative life events compared with peer (but not normative) samples. Prospective participants also held preparticipation values more similar to those espoused by the LGAT than peer or normative samples, and the three groups failed to be distinguished by their levels of social support. The implications of the findings are considered for understanding participation in LGATs and other self-change promoting activities.
In a nationwide study, we explored how Israelis, currently stricken by an intense wave of terrori... more In a nationwide study, we explored how Israelis, currently stricken by an intense wave of terrorism, perceive the risk of being the victim of a terrorist attack. We studied both absolute and comparative (i.e., vis-a-vis other people at the area of residence) perceived controllability and vulnerability. The picture that emerges is one of realism. We found no evidence of the
ABSTRACT Most people judge themselves to be content with their lives. However, they also judge th... more ABSTRACT Most people judge themselves to be content with their lives. However, they also judge themselves to be more content than the others in their group, which is a logical impossibility. In line with previous speculations, the authors found in two studies that comparative contentment judgments were highly related to judgments of one’s own contentment but entirely unrelated to judgments of comparison of others’ contentment. That is, comparative contentment judgments are predominantly self-focused. Researchers asking the question, “How content are you relative to your peers?” should be aware that the response might well be to the question “How content are you?”
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1990
A study was conducted to assess the psychosocial characteristics of individuals who become involv... more A study was conducted to assess the psychosocial characteristics of individuals who become involved in large group awareness training (LGAT) programs. Prospective participants in The Forum, which has been classified as an LGAT, were compared with nonparticipating peers and with available normative samples on measures of well-being, negative life events, social support, and philosophical orientation. Results revealed that prospective participants were significantly more distressed than peer and normative samples of community residents and had a higher level of impact of recent negative life events compared with peer (but not normative) samples. Prospective participants also held preparticipation values more similar to those espoused by the LGAT than peer or normative samples, and the three groups failed to be distinguished by their levels of social support. The implications of the findings are considered for understanding participation in LGATs and other self-change promoting activities.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1989
A study was designed to assess the psychological effects of participation in an intervention that... more A study was designed to assess the psychological effects of participation in an intervention that has been classified as a large group awareness training (LGAT). One hundred and thirty-five participants in the Forum (the successor to the est training and at present the most widespread LGAT) and 73 comparable peer-nominated control Ss completed detailed questionnaires approximately 4-6 weeks pre-and 4-6 weeks posttraining. Participants and nominees also completed similar measures approximately 1 { years later. Both Forum participants and nominees were men and women who were predominantly White, well educated, and of relatively high socioeconomic status. Forum outcome was assessed on a broad array of outcome dimensions (perceived control, life satisfaction, daily coping, social functioning, positive and negative affect, self-esteem, physical health, and symptomatology), using multivariate techniques. The short-term outcome analyses revealed that only perceived control was affected by Forum participation, and no long-term treatment effects were observed. Results suggest that claims about far-reaching positive or negative psychological effects of participation in LGATs such as the Forum may be exaggerated.
In a nationwide study, we explored how Israelis, currently stricken by an intense wave of terrori... more In a nationwide study, we explored how Israelis, currently stricken by an intense wave of terrorism, perceive the risk of being the victim of a terrorist attack. We studied both absolute and comparative (i.e., vis-a-vis other people at the area of residence) perceived controllability and vulnerability. The picture that emerges is one of realism. We found no evidence of the
Can almost all members of a group be judged as better (or worse) than the other people in the sam... more Can almost all members of a group be judged as better (or worse) than the other people in the same group? Apparently yes. In Studies 1–4, members of small intact groups systematically judged their group members as above the group average and above the median on a variety of social traits, even when all group members were judged consecutively. In Studies 5–7, participants judged members of a given positive group as systematically better than the others in the same positive group and members of a given negative group—as worse than the others in the same negative group. This was found in judgments of groups of liked and disliked acquaintances, attractive and unattractive faces, and high- and low-skilled students. The Singular-Target-Focus theory, arguing failure of contrast in member-to-group comparisons, is presented to account for these findings.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2006
The authors examined the relationships between 2 modes of national identification (attachment to ... more The authors examined the relationships between 2 modes of national identification (attachment to the in-group and the in-group's glorification) and reactions to the in-group's moral violations among Israeli students. Data were collected during a period of relative calm in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as during a period of great intensification of this conflict. As expected, in Study 1, the 2 modes of identification had contrasting relationships with group-based guilt: Attachment was positively related whereas glorification was negatively related to group-based guilt for in-group's past infractions. Glorification suppressed the attachment effect but not vice versa. Both relationships were mediated by the use of exonerating cognitions. In Study 2, group-based guilt for the in-group's current wrongdoings was increased by priming critical rather than conventional attachment to the in-group, suggesting a causal effect of mode of identification on the experience of negative group-based emotions.
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1996
Five studies showed that people assess vulnerability to future controllable negative life events ... more Five studies showed that people assess vulnerability to future controllable negative life events differently depending on whether it concerns: (a) generalized targets (e.g., the average peer), or (b) concrete and familiar targets (self or nonself). In the former case, adistributionalframework is applied which focuses on available statistical information such as groups’ base-rates. In the latter case, people apply asingularjudgmental perspective and focus on available individuating information such as personal dispositions and preventive actions. This perspective would typically lead to an optimistic bias in favor of concrete and familiar rather than generalized targets. Participants in Study 1 evaluated both self's and a spontaneously selected (non-intimate) peer's risk prospects as lower than those of their average peer in controllable but not uncontrollable future events or controllable and uncontrollable everyday negative events. Study 2 replicated the main findings in direct comparative judgments. In Study 3, verbal accounts and a measure of interest in the base-rate supported the singular-distributional analysis. In Studies 4 and 5, an optimistic bias was found in favor of a randomly assigned member of their small group to whom participants were yoked. These findings suggest that in addition to the classic “illusion of unique invulnerability” (e.g., Perloff & Fetzer, 1986), whereby participants judge themselves to be less vulnerable than the average group-member, there is an “illusion ofnonuniqueinvulnerability,” whereby participants judge also their singular group-members to be less vulnerable than the average group-member. Finally we discuss conditions in which apessimisticrather than the standard optimistic bias might occur in comparative risk comparisons.
People are frequently required to judge how particular group members measure up against others in... more People are frequently required to judge how particular group members measure up against others in their group. According to the local-comparisons-general-standards (LOGE) approach, in these member-togroup comparisons, people fail to use the normatively appropriate local (group) standard and are infelicitously affected by a more general standard (involving instances from outside the judged group). Within positive groups, target group members are judged superior to the other members of the group, and within negative groups, inferior. To date, these nonselective superiority and inferiority biases have been demonstrated solely in judgments about human beings. In 6 experiments, nonselective biases were found in perceptual, affective, and cognitive judgments of nonhuman targets, objects, and concepts, thus supporting a cognitive rather than a social account.
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Papers by Hilik Klar
Israeliness is not” in the 1940s and 1950s to a core element in Israeli identity. Inspired by Bauer, we present four different and sometimes incompatible voices related to the Holocaust that greatly affect the Israeli society. They are: Never be a passive victim; never forsake your brothers; never be passive bystander; and never be a perpetrator. Experimental evidence related to these voices is also described.
illustrate that meaning making for the victims, but not the perpetrators, can lead observers to perceive the victims' descendants as morally obligated to refrain from harming others. Focusing on the lessons of the past
for the victim group increases observers' expectations that contemporary victim group members should know better than harm others. Deriving benefits from a group's past suffering, for both a well-known instance such as the Holocaust or a previously unknown group, elevates victim moral obligations (but not victim moral rights or perpetrator moral obligations). When the descendants of a historically victimized group violate the perceived lesson derived from having suffered—to be more moral—and instead does harm to others, then observers
respond more negatively toward them than harm-doers who lack a victimization history.
Study 1 was conducted in the Israeli town of Sderot, which for more than a decade has been under frequent rocket fire from neighboring Palestinian Gaza and has also witnessed numerous Israeli retaliatory attacks on Gaza. Study 2 was conducted among residents of towns and communities
close to the Gaza border during the 2014 war. We investigated the potential readiness for mutual forgiveness with Gaza residents, apology, and reparation and help to repair war damage. Mutual Forgiveness received considerable support, but apology and reparations did not. Perspective-taking
vis-à-vis the Palestinians predicted support for mutual forgiveness in the first but not the second study. Acceptance of moral responsibility and dismissal of exonerating cognitions regarding Israel’s conduct in Gaza predicted readiness for apology and reparations. Hence a step towards mutual
forgiveness with the adversarial outgroup is feasible under active conflict mainly because it does not involve culpability.
and defending their historical group narrative. However, some group members are more narrativeprotective
than others. In Study 1, we introduce a new individual-difference measure of motivation to achieve
a Firmly Entrenched Narrative ClosurE (FENCE) and test it on several Israeli samples (N = 1132). In Study
2 (N= 120), we show that in-group glorification, right-wing political orientation, and right-wingauthoritarianism,
but not attachment to the In-group, nonspecific need for cognitive closure, or need for
cognition, predict FENCE motivation and Behavioral Lack of Openness to Counternarratives (BLOC). In
Studies 3 and 4, we show using international (N = 24) and Israeli (N = 78) samples that a belief in the zero-sum
nature of the conflict is related to FENCE and BLOC. In Study 5, we demonstrate that FENCE affects quality
of recall of conflict information. The potential merit of FENCE in accounting for the variability among group
members in protecting the group narrative is discussed
Israeliness is not” in the 1940s and 1950s to a core element in Israeli identity. Inspired by Bauer, we present four different and sometimes incompatible voices related to the Holocaust that greatly affect the Israeli society. They are: Never be a passive victim; never forsake your brothers; never be passive bystander; and never be a perpetrator. Experimental evidence related to these voices is also described.
illustrate that meaning making for the victims, but not the perpetrators, can lead observers to perceive the victims' descendants as morally obligated to refrain from harming others. Focusing on the lessons of the past
for the victim group increases observers' expectations that contemporary victim group members should know better than harm others. Deriving benefits from a group's past suffering, for both a well-known instance such as the Holocaust or a previously unknown group, elevates victim moral obligations (but not victim moral rights or perpetrator moral obligations). When the descendants of a historically victimized group violate the perceived lesson derived from having suffered—to be more moral—and instead does harm to others, then observers
respond more negatively toward them than harm-doers who lack a victimization history.
Study 1 was conducted in the Israeli town of Sderot, which for more than a decade has been under frequent rocket fire from neighboring Palestinian Gaza and has also witnessed numerous Israeli retaliatory attacks on Gaza. Study 2 was conducted among residents of towns and communities
close to the Gaza border during the 2014 war. We investigated the potential readiness for mutual forgiveness with Gaza residents, apology, and reparation and help to repair war damage. Mutual Forgiveness received considerable support, but apology and reparations did not. Perspective-taking
vis-à-vis the Palestinians predicted support for mutual forgiveness in the first but not the second study. Acceptance of moral responsibility and dismissal of exonerating cognitions regarding Israel’s conduct in Gaza predicted readiness for apology and reparations. Hence a step towards mutual
forgiveness with the adversarial outgroup is feasible under active conflict mainly because it does not involve culpability.
and defending their historical group narrative. However, some group members are more narrativeprotective
than others. In Study 1, we introduce a new individual-difference measure of motivation to achieve
a Firmly Entrenched Narrative ClosurE (FENCE) and test it on several Israeli samples (N = 1132). In Study
2 (N= 120), we show that in-group glorification, right-wing political orientation, and right-wingauthoritarianism,
but not attachment to the In-group, nonspecific need for cognitive closure, or need for
cognition, predict FENCE motivation and Behavioral Lack of Openness to Counternarratives (BLOC). In
Studies 3 and 4, we show using international (N = 24) and Israeli (N = 78) samples that a belief in the zero-sum
nature of the conflict is related to FENCE and BLOC. In Study 5, we demonstrate that FENCE affects quality
of recall of conflict information. The potential merit of FENCE in accounting for the variability among group
members in protecting the group narrative is discussed