Intergroup emotions in intergroup conflicts: Power disparities perspective

Intergroup conflicts pose a significant challenge to human society. Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, armed intergroup conflicts have resulted in the loss of over one million lives globally. While these conflicts arise from conflicting goals related to real issues, it is crucial to acknowledge that they are accompanied by sociopsychological dynamics that influence their nature. A core aspect of these sociopsychological dynamics is the emotions that play a pivotal role in shaping both intragroup and intergroup processes. Previous research has categorized group-based emotions based on several dimensions, including their valence-the pleasantness of the emotion at the individual level and, subsequently, based on the valence of the outcome. Constructive emotions contribute to conflict resolution, whereas destructive emotions contribute to fueling the conflict. However, this approach does not take power disparities into account. We propose that power status should be considered as an additional dimension. We introduce a new conceptual framework to understand emotions and power disparities in conflicts. According to that framework, for both high- and low-power groups involved in the conflict, there are emotions that are beneficial (e.g., hope) or destructive (hatred), but we suggest that there are other emotions that may play different roles depending on power relations (e.g., empathy, anger). This work has implications for the interventions developed in the realm of conflict resolution as it suggests the distinct optimal underlying emotions that should be considered.