Citation

Kimhi S, Canetti-Nisim D, Hirschberger G. Peace Conflict J. Peace Psychol. 2009; 15(1): 75-95.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, American Psychological Association)

DOI

10.1080/10781910802589899

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This research examined the effect of attributions on attitudes toward terrorism. Participants (111 Israeli Jews and 91 Israeli Palestinians) were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 violent scenarios (i.e., a Jew shooting a Palestinian or a Palestinian shooting a Jew) and answered questions on attributions and denunciation of violence. Results indicated that Palestinians attributed more external, local, and unstable motivations to perpetrators compared to Jews. Moreover, Palestinians expressed tolerance of violence when the perpetrator was a Palestinian who was perceived to be motivated by external motivations. However, Palestinians also expressed greater support of peace. The discussion examines the role of attributions in ethnic conflict.