TY - JOUR
T1 - Perceptions of the narrative of the 'other' among Arab and Jewish adolescents in Israel
T2 - Between peace talks and violent events
AU - Sagy, Shifra
AU - Ayalon, Ariel
AU - Diab, Khansaa
N1 - Funding Information:
The research was supported by a grant from the Israeli Scientific Foundation (grant no. 531/ 04).
PY - 2011/4/1
Y1 - 2011/4/1
N2 - One of the major challenges for the process of peace building is to overcome the rigid structure of the socio-psychological repertoire that accompanies it. Our longitudinal study examined one element of this repertoire among Jewish and Arab adolescents in Israel: the cognitive legitimacy and the emotional reactions toward the historical narrative of the opponent. We focused our question on the impact of the socio-political context and the role of the violent reality in the development of these perceptions among youth. Data were collected in four stages (1999-2000, 2002, 2004, and 2007) among various samples of Arab and Jewish high school students (10th and 12th graders). The results showed that among the Jewish adolescents, the readiness to legitimate Palestinian narratives significantly decreased during violent periods. Among the Arab students, the impact of their difficult status as a Palestinian minority in the State of Israel is reflected in their relatively high level of readiness to accept both narratives. The results are discussed from social, cultural, and developmental perspectives with a focus on the role of the conflictual reality itself in the development of the sociopsychological repertoire among youth.
AB - One of the major challenges for the process of peace building is to overcome the rigid structure of the socio-psychological repertoire that accompanies it. Our longitudinal study examined one element of this repertoire among Jewish and Arab adolescents in Israel: the cognitive legitimacy and the emotional reactions toward the historical narrative of the opponent. We focused our question on the impact of the socio-political context and the role of the violent reality in the development of these perceptions among youth. Data were collected in four stages (1999-2000, 2002, 2004, and 2007) among various samples of Arab and Jewish high school students (10th and 12th graders). The results showed that among the Jewish adolescents, the readiness to legitimate Palestinian narratives significantly decreased during violent periods. Among the Arab students, the impact of their difficult status as a Palestinian minority in the State of Israel is reflected in their relatively high level of readiness to accept both narratives. The results are discussed from social, cultural, and developmental perspectives with a focus on the role of the conflictual reality itself in the development of the sociopsychological repertoire among youth.
KW - Adolescents
KW - Israeli-Palestinian conflict
KW - Legitimacy of the 'other'
KW - Perceptions of narratives
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79957866197&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/14675986.2011.567077
DO - 10.1080/14675986.2011.567077
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79957866197
SN - 1467-5986
VL - 22
SP - 191
EP - 206
JO - Intercultural Education
JF - Intercultural Education
IS - 2
ER -