Testing the impact and durability of a group malleability intervention in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2018-01, Vol.115 (4), p.696-701
• Main Authors: Goldenberg, Amit, Cohen-Chen, Smadar, Goyer, J. Parker, Dweck, Carol S., Gross, James J., Halperin, Eran
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aggression; Conflict resolution; Durability; Intervention; Leadership; Perceptions; Social Sciences; Violence; Workshops
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1706800115

Fostering perceptions of group malleability (teaching people that groups are capable of change and improvement) has been shown to lead to short-term improvements in intergroup attitudes and willingness to make concessions in intractable conflicts. The present study, a field intervention involving 508 Israelis from three locations in Israel, replicated and substantially extended those findings by testing the durability of a group malleability intervention during a 6-month period of frequent violence. Three different 5-hour-long interventions were administered as leadership workshops. The group malleability intervention was compared with a neutral coping intervention and, importantly, with a state-of-the-art perspective-taking intervention. The group malleability intervention proved superior to the coping intervention in improving attitudes, hope, and willingness to make concessions, and maintained this advantage during a 6-month period of intense intergroup conflict. Moreover, it was as good as, and in some respects superior to, the perspective-taking intervention. These findings provide a naturalistic examination of the potential of group malleability interventions to increase openness to conflict resolution.