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Research Article

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

Amit Goldenberg, Smadar Cohen-Chen, View ORCID ProfileJ. Parker Goyer, Carol S. Dweck, James J. Gross, and Eran Halperin
PNAS January 23, 2018 115 (4) 696-701; first published January 8, 2018; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1706800115
Amit Goldenberg
aStanford University, Department of Psychology, Stanford, CA 94305-2130;
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  • For correspondence: amitgold@stanford.edu dweck@stanford.edu
Smadar Cohen-Chen
bUniversity of Surrey, Business School, Guildford GU2 7XH, United Kingdom;
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J. Parker Goyer
aStanford University, Department of Psychology, Stanford, CA 94305-2130;
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  • ORCID record for J. Parker Goyer
Carol S. Dweck
aStanford University, Department of Psychology, Stanford, CA 94305-2130;
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  • For correspondence: amitgold@stanford.edu dweck@stanford.edu
James J. Gross
aStanford University, Department of Psychology, Stanford, CA 94305-2130;
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Eran Halperin
cInterdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Herzliya 46150, Israel
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  1. Contributed by Carol S. Dweck, November 28, 2017 (sent for review May 23, 2017; reviewed by Mina Cikara and Betsy Levy Paluck)

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Significance

The importance of psychological factors in conflict resolution has been well established in laboratory experiments. However, these factors have rarely been examined in longitudinal field experiments. The goal of the current project was to address this gap by comparing the effectiveness of psychological interventions during a period of extensive violence in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. An intervention that spoke to the idea that groups can change and improve over time (a group malleability intervention) proved superior to a control intervention in improving attitudes, hope, and willingness to make concessions, even 6 months after the intervention. These findings provide evidence from a longitudinal field experiment that group malleability interventions can increase openness to conflict resolution.

Abstract

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.

  • intergroup conflicts
  • psychological interventions
  • mindsets
  • emotions

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: amitgold{at}stanford.edu or dweck{at}stanford.edu.
  • Author contributions: A.G., S.C.-C., C.S.D., J.J.G., and E.H. designed research; A.G., S.C.-C., and E.H. performed research; A.G., S.C.-C., and J.P.G. analyzed data; and A.G., J.P.G., C.S.D., J.J.G., and E.H. wrote the paper.

  • Reviewers: M.C., Harvard University; and B.L.P., Princeton University.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1706800115/-/DCSupplemental.

Published under the PNAS license.

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Impact of a group malleability intervention
Amit Goldenberg, Smadar Cohen-Chen, J. Parker Goyer, Carol S. Dweck, James J. Gross, Eran Halperin
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jan 2018, 115 (4) 696-701; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1706800115

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Impact of a group malleability intervention
Amit Goldenberg, Smadar Cohen-Chen, J. Parker Goyer, Carol S. Dweck, James J. Gross, Eran Halperin
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jan 2018, 115 (4) 696-701; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1706800115
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 115 (4)
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