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International Online Training Program On Intractable Conflict |
Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, USA |
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International Online Training Program On Intractable Conflict |
Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado, USA |
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The term "out-group" refers to anyone who is not in your own group. In conflicts between groups of people, disputants usually view people outside their own group as less good, or in the case of the opposing group, really bad. The term "enemy image" refers to the same thing. The opposing groups is seen as "the enemy," who is inferior to one's own group in many ways. For example, the enemy may be seen as stupid, selfish, deceitful, aggressive, hostile, even evil in character. This is true, even if members of the out-group do nothing more selfish, deceitful, aggressive, or evil than one's own group does. However, when they are engaged in a conflict, people will normally "project" their own negative traits on the other side, ignoring their own shortcomings or misdeeds, while emphasizing the same in the other. The extreme form of this tendency is de-humanization, in which members of the opposing group are really considered to be less than human. While such a view is unthinkable when people are not involved in a serious conflict, it is absolutely necessary to dehumanize an opponent if one needs to go to war against them. Otherwise, it becomes psychologically very difficult to kill people on the other side. If one is convinced, however, that the other side is bent on one's own destruction, and is somehow less human than one's own group is, it is much easier to engage in war or human rights violations against the opponent.
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