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Information about ingroup moral violations against outgroups evoke defensiveness resulting in low support for reparations to be provided to members of these groups. Yet it remains unknown if reminders of ingroup harmdoings could also enhance moral engagement rather than disengagement. In this paper, we report experimental evidence from three studies (ns = 625) set in the context of historical atrocities committed against indigenous people in Sweden demonstrating that high importance of individuals' moral identity led to increased prosocial behaviors benefiting the outgroup (reparations and outgroup monetary donation). The positive effects of moral identity on reparations and outgroup donation were independent and remained significant after controlling for group-based guilt, which is a known predictor of willingness to provide reparations. Furthermore, our research identified a pathway of affirming individuals' moral identity through stories of ingroup moral exemplars. Participants who learned about morally admirable behaviors performed by their ingroup fellows were more likely to endorse and engage in prosocial behaviors benefiting the outgroup. These effects were driven by an increased importance of participants' moral identity. Establishing ways of affirming threatened moral identity and, in that way, facilitating more prosocial and moral actions is important for contexts with a history of human right violations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflict resolution and intergroup reconciliation are difficult to achieve because of many social and psychological obstacles, such as people's belief that members of a social group that is an adversary of their own group are mostly bad and essentially all the same. In this article, we introduce a novel intervention aimed at challenging these beliefs by exposing people to stories about individuals who have risked some important aspects of their lives to save the lives of other social groups' members (moral exemplars). The effects of this moral-exemplar intervention have been tested with field experiments in several postconflict contexts using members of real antagonistic groups. We discuss the results of these studies and three specific and important aspects of the moral-exemplar intervention: (a) its comparative advantage over existing social-psychological interventions aimed at conflict resolution and intergroup reconciliation, (b) its content and conditions, and (c) implications for future theorizing and research targeting prosocial changes in attitudes and intergroup behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efforts of peace-building and reconciliation between historical enemies are faced with many structural and psychological obstacles. Scholars have identified mechanisms that can induce improvements in psychological aspects of intergroup relations, such as intergroup contact. However, establishing direct contact with everyone is impossible. Therefore, the mass media represents an important source through which groups learn about each other. Numerous studies have shown that stereotypical and often negative portrayals of specific social groups through the media produce or reinforce negative intergroup outcomes. In this research, the authors report results from an experimental study conducted in a post-conflict society of Bosnia and Herzegovina (N = 119). It examined the effects of stereotypical and counter-stereotypical representations of former enemy groups (Bosniaks) through the media on intergroup behavior (reported by Bosnian Serbs). More specifically, in this research the authors explored the effects of representing out-group individuals as immoral (the stereotypical condition) and moral (the counter-stereotypical condition) on specific behavioral tendencies toward the historical enemy group. The results indicate that exposure to primarily moral information about the out-group target facilitated important positive intergroup outcomes. This study extends the literature and research on moral exemplars by demonstrating the effects on relevant intergroup outcomes whilst utilizing current (vs. historical) moral exemplar stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]