• Gross, J.
• Dweck, C.
• Halperin, E.
• Goyer, J.
• Cohen, Smadar

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 over a six-month period of frequent violence. Three different 5-hour interventions were administered as leadership workshops: The group malleability intervention was compared to a neutral coping intervention and, importantly, to 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 over 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 the first naturalistic examination of the potential of group malleability interventions to increase openness to conflict resolution.

Topics

• durability