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Reconciliation research revealed that the institutional acknowledgement of the group's sufferings does not always improve fractured intergroup relations. To get a better understanding of this issue, through a field experiment we explored whether its effectiveness could be dependent on the collective background against which it is provided. That is, we involved citizens (N = 975) from societies entrapped in recent or ongoing conflicts (i.e., Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Palestinian, Israel) and examined the effects of the institutional acknowledgement of a chosen trauma when its denial by the majority (vs. minority) of outgroup members was made salient. Results revealed that the salience of the acknowledgement was effective in increasing the trust towards outgroup representatives. Instead, such an acknowledgement was ineffective in improving people's willingness to reconcile and hope for change, which was mainly dependent on the levels of denial by outgroup members. However, for these latter variables, relevant differences emerged depending on the conflictual versus post‐conflictual context. Implications of our findings for intergroup reconciliation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parents of 50 children (ages 5-12) with mental retardation reviewed hypothetical need situations associated with their child's retardation and rated the likelihood that they would help themselves or seek external help. Mothers' help-seeking behavior seemed to be affected by ego considerations whereas fathers' help-seeking behavior was instrumental. (Author/JDD)

On the basis of development of the concept of 'defensive helping,' the authors demonstrated that high ingroup identifiers thwart a threat to group identity through defensive help-giving (i.e., by extending help to an outgroup member whose achievements jeopardize their status). Participants were 255 Israeli high school students (130 boys and 125 girls) ages 16-18. The phenomenon of defensive helping was demonstrated in a minimal group (Study 1) and real-group (Study 2) experiment. Study 3, which examined real groups, supported the extension of the phenomenon of defensive helping to relations between high- and low-status groups, showing that members of a high-status group who perceive status relations with the low-status outgroup as unstable will protect the ingroup's identity by providing dependency-oriented help to the low-status outgroup. Priming for common ingroup identity reversed this pattern, with participants electing to offer autonomy-oriented rather than defensive help. Theoretical and applied implications of these findings are discussed with respect to social change, paternalism, and helping between nations. Keywords: defensive helping, status relations, threat to social identity, common ingroup identity, dependency/autonomy-oriented help DOI: 10.1037/a0015968

Guided by the Needs-Based Model of Reconciliation, we hypothesized that being a member of a victimized group would be associated with a threat to the status and power of one's ingroup, whereas being a member of a perpetrating group would threaten the image of the ingroup as moral and socially acceptable. A social exchange interaction through which victims feel empowered by their perpetrators and perpetrators feel accepted by their victims was thus predicted to enhance the parties' willingness to reconcile. Supporting the predictions across two experiments, members of the perpetrator group (Jews in Study I and Germans in Study 2) showed greater willingness to reconcile when they received a message of acceptance, rather than empowerment, from a member of the victimized group. Members of the victimized group (Arabs in Study 1 and Jews in Study 2) demonstrated the opposite effect. Applied and theoretical implications of these results are discussed. Keywords: intergroup reconciliation; emotional needs; victims; perpetrators; empowerment; acceptance

Using time domain reflectometry (TDR), we studied stem water content ([[theta].sub.stem]), stem electrical conductivity ([[sigma].sub.stem]), and their ratio for 220 d in stressed, installation-cured, living trees of four species. Lysimeter-grown mango (Mangifera indica L.), banana (Musa acuminata Colla), date (Phoenix dactylifera L.), and olive (Olea eurapaea L.) were subjected to several types of mild (intensity and duration) water stresses simulating horticultural orchard irrigation practices. This study of living trees was triggered by our previous study accomplished in uncured, thawed, native, cut stem segments. We have confirmed in living trees our earlier findings that [[theta].sub.stem] reacts sensitively and within minutes to water stress. This response is the main driver of [[sigma].sub.stem] changes, by far exceeding the salinity effect on [[sigma].sub.stem]. Known irrigation rates, half-hourly tree weights from load cells, and frequent sampling of drainage solution for volume and salinity independently confirmed our findings. Relative to [[sigma].sub.stem], resistivity measurements have lower scatter because [[theta].sub.stem]-dielectric constant ([epsilon]) relationships are exponential and [[theta].sub.stem]-resistivity relationships are linear. With resistivity, there is no need to match impedances among meter, cable, and probe, implying a larger flexibility in probe geometry, longer cables, and higher accuracy with shorter rods. There is a clear economic advantage in resistivity over [epsilon] measurements. The linkage between stem resistivity and water status (designated as the linkage factor) for lysimeter plants, orchard trees, and cut stem segments demonstrates the potential in scheduling irrigation according to plant water needs with an inexpensive, direct, and simple resistivity measurement. Abbreviations: DOY, day of the year; LF, linkage factor; TDR, time domain reflectometry; [theta], volumetric water content; or, electrical conductivity; [epsilon], dielectric constant.

Rapid and sensitive detection of stress in trees due to irrigation practices, draught, salinity, pollution, lack of nutrients, or diseases may be useful for research and practical purposes. Tree stress could be monitored by following changes in wood water content via time domain reflectometry (TDR). We have searched for a user-friendly and less expensive tool because, although TDR is perhaps the most suitable method, it is too expensive and complicated for everyday use. The objective of this study was to understand the relations between the electrical conductivity ([[sigma].sub.stem]) and water content ([[theta].sub.stem]) in tree stem segments of seven species with TDR probes installed. By leaching stem segments with salt solutions or air we were able to change the salinity and water content independently. We have shown that (i) [[sigma].sub.stem] is more sensitive to changes in [[sigma].sub.stem] than to changes in salinity of the sap, and (ii) 30-mm-long rods on the TDR probe can sensitively and accurately measure [[theta].sub.stem]. We propose that [[sigma].sub.stem] changes might be used as a proxy for changes in stem water content or stem water potential. Hence, electrical resistivity measurements may substitute for water content measurements with the following advantages: improved accuracy, higher flexibility in probe construction, application to stem diameters Abbreviations: TDR, time domain reflectometry; [sigma], electrical conductivity; [theta], volumetric water content; [epsilon], dielectric constant.

The authors propose that conflict threatens different psychological resources of victims and perpetrators and that these threats contribute to the maintenance of conflict (A. Nadler, 2002; A. Nadler & I. Liviatan, 2004; A. Nadler & N. Shnabel, in press). On the basis of this general proposition, the authors developed a needs-based model of reconciliation that posits that being a victim is associated with a threat to one's status and power, whereas being a perpetrator threatens one's image as moral and socially acceptable. To counter these threats, victims must restore their sense of power, whereas perpetrators must restore their public moral image. A social exchange interaction in which these threats are removed should enhance the parties' willingness to reconcile. The results of 4 studies on interpersonal reconciliation support these hypotheses. Applied and theoretical implications of this model are discussed. Keywords: reconciliation, conflict resolution, emotional needs, victims, perpetrators

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2007.00461.x Byline: Yonat Tamir (1), Arie Nadler (2) Abstract: ABSTRACT This article examines the role of personality dispositions as determinants of people's reactions to threats to social identity. It is argued that since individuals characterized as high field-dependents have a greater tendency to anchor their identity in the social group than low field-dependents, they will be more affected by threats to social identity, especially when the context is framed as an intergroup context. Threat to social identity was manipulated by inducing intergroup similarity, and intergroup differentiation was measured. The first experiment assessed the hypothesis with minimal groups. The second experiment assessed it with real groups (two rival schools). Findings provided support for the hypotheses. The discussion centers on the role of personality dispositions in the social identity perspective. Author Affiliation: (1)Ramat Aviv Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel (2)Tel Aviv University, Israel Article note: Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed either to Yonat Tamir, Ramat-Aviv Institute, 15 Brazil St., Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69460, Israel, or to Arie Nadler, Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, 69978, Israel; Email: yonat.tamir@alum.mit.edu or arie@post.tau.ac.il.

Integrating research on social identity processes and helping relations, the authors proposed that low-status group members who are high identifiers will be unwilling to receive help from the high-status group when status relations are perceived as unstable and help is dependency-oriented. The first experiment, a minimal group experiment, found negative reactions to help from a high-status outgroup when status relations were unstable. The 2nd and 3rd experiments, which used real groups of Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews, replicated this finding and showed that high identifiers were less receptive to help from the high-status outgroup than low identifiers. The 4th experiment, a help-seeking experiment with real groups of competing high schools, found that the least amount of help was sought from a high-status group by high identifiers when status relations were perceived as unstable and help was dependency-oriented. Theoretical and applied implications are discussed. Keywords: reactions to help, help-seeking, perceived status stability, ingroup identification, dependency-/autonomy-oriented help

The present study explores the effects of expressions of empathy for the ingroup's conflict-related suffering and assumed responsibility for causing it by a representative of the rival outgroup on recipient's willingness for reconciliation. It is suggested that such positive expressions by an adversary will have positive effects on reconciliation only in the presence of a basic level of trust in the outgroup. In two studies, Israeli-Jewish participants were exposed to a Palestinian leader who either expressed or did not express empathy and/or Palestinian responsibility for lsraelis' suffering. After reading the speech, participants completed a questionnaire that measured their attitudes toward reconciliation with Palestinians. Results of both studies show that whereas expression of empathy led to more positive attitudes when trust was high, it tended to have adverse effects when trust was low. Similar effects were not found for assumed responsibility. Implications for research on intergroup conflict and reconciliation are discussed. Keywords: intergroup reconciliation; trust; expressed empathy; acceptance of responsibility; apology

In a semiarid region in a grapefruit (Nucellar 'Marsh seedless, Cirrus paradise Macf.) orchard irrigated with salinized waters, the water content ([theta]) and bulk electrical conductivity ([[sigma].sub.a]) of the trees' stems and the root-zone soil was monitored by time domain reflectometry (TDR) and electrical conductivity meter for a year. For the purpose of irrigation scheduling the objective was to verify correlations between (i) stem and soil [theta] and (ii) stem and soil [sigma]. Measured [[theta].sub.soil] [[sigma].sub.a, soil] were in good agreement with the irrigation treatments, peaking in summer and decreasing during autumn. Only a weak correlation between stem's [[sigma].sub.a] and [theta] and the soil's parameters was found and attributed to rime after installation of probes in the stem; the higher [[sigma].sub.a, stem] (5-10 x [10.sup.-2] dS [m.sup.-1]), measured up to three months after installation, were accredited to the salt content of ruptured stem cells. After curing of the installation wound the insulating effect of the cells' membranes may explain the lower [[sigma].sub.a, stem] (2-5 x [10.sup.-2] dS [m.sup.-1]) measured 3 in 12 mo after installation. Periods of [[theta].sub.soil] increase (day of year [DOY] = 80-200, and 200-280) observed by the soil probes indicated surplus irrigation. Presently the rate, intensity, and variability of the grapefruit stem reaction to soil water status and salinity leaves the soil parameters as better indicators for accurate irrigation scheduling.

The purpose of the study was to compare the response of TDR-determined stem ([[theta].sub.stem]) and soil ([[theta].sub.soil) water content to different irrigation managements. [[theta].sub.stem] (L [L.sup.-1) was measured with three-rods TDR probes (70 mm) installed vertically or horizontally into predrilled holes in the trunk of 5-yr-old lemon [Citrus limon (L.) Burman f.] trees in a semiarid region (Israel). Four irrigation treatments were established to deliver 100% ('full'), half of this amount on one side of the tree ('50%'), same amount as in 50% but applied to alternate sides (3-wk intervals) of the tree ('split'), and 0% ('dry') of the orchard's normal irrigation volume (typically 150-200 [m.sup.3] [wk.sup.-1] [ha.sup.-1]). Treated sewage water ([[sigma].sub.w] = 0.9 dS [m.sup.-1]) was used to irrigate the trees for 75 d (end of June and mid September). Changes in [[theta].sub.soil], and [[theta].sub.stem] were monitored at weekly intervals. Leaf water potential and temperature measurements were used to verify the achieved water stress levels. [[theta].sub.stem] of the full treatment fluctuated by about 0.02 to 0.03 L [L.sup.-1] above and below the 'prestress' reference level (beginning of the season). In contrast, [0.sub.stem] of the 50% treatment declined (by about 0.07 L [L.sup.-1) steadily over the season. For the split and dry treatments, [[theta].sub.stem] decreased by about 0.12 L [L-.sup.1] relative to the reference level. [[theta].sub.soil] and [[theta].sub.stem] values suggest that some surplus irrigation was applied to the full and 50% treatments. It was found that water stress was reflected in TDR-measured [[theta].sub.stem] changes but that these changes were too small for routine irrigation control.