Emotional Orientation, Collective

Abstract In recent decades social psychologies — as well as other disciplines such as political science and sociology — have shifted their focus from pure cognitive research to a more integrative perspective, which combines aspects of cognition and emotion. This development took place as a result of recognition that emotions constitute a central element of the human repertoire and the study of their functioning is a prerequisite for the understanding of individual and collective behaviors. Furthermore, scholars who study international relations and ethnic conflicts have long recognized the central role played by emotions in conflict eruption, escalation, de-escalation, resolution, and reconciliation, though empirical work on emotional effects was relatively rare until the last two decades. Although short-term, personal experiences of emotions can be highly influential in intergroup conflicts, of special interest is the role of long-term, collective emotional phenomena in these conflicts. More specifically, they are best represented in the nature and the functioning of collective emotional orientation in intergroup conflicts (Bar-Tal, 2001; Bar-Tal, Halperin, de-Rivera, 2007).