National Honor and Personal Dignity Perceptions, Legitimization of the Narrative of the “Other,” and Willingness to Reconcile: The Case of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict

The sense of national honor and personal dignity have been identified as basic elements in national conflict cultures. In the current study we examined the contribution of national honor and human dignity perceptions to willingness to reconcile with the Palestinians among a sample of 343 Israeli Jewish university students. Legitimization of Palestinian narratives was examined as a mediator of the relationships between personal dignity, national honor perceptions, and willingness to reconcile. The findings indicate 2 contradicting directions: While honor perceptions correlate negatively with willingness to reconcile, human dignity perceptions correlate positively with willingness to reconcile. Legitimizing the narratives of the “others” mediated the relationships between national honor perceptions, human dignity perceptions, and willingness to reconcile. Implications for conflict resolution endeavors and future research are discussed.