People exposed only to state-controlled victimhood narratives deny in-group responsibility

Evidence

Across the former Yugoslav nations that were involved in conflicts, the mainstream media and public institutions were under direct control of powerholders and were thus consistently transmitting narratives of in-group victimhood only, together with denial, ignorance, or justification of atrocities committed by in-group members (Thompson 1999; Kurspahic´ 2003). As a consequence, people for whom the politicized societal-level narratives are the only source of knowledge about the conflict have a heightened likelihood of endorsing such beliefs (Bilali 2013; Happer and Philo 2013). — Sandra Penic, Guy Elcheroth, and Dario Spini, When Is Collective Exposure to War…, 21

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to how information environments shape attitudes — parallels the reader’s interest in how source-versus-direct exposure to conflict alters collective guilt acceptance. — connects to: Direct war victims rarely accept collective guilt for group atrocities. — Sandra Penic, Guy Elcheroth, and Dario Spini, When Is Collective Exposure to War…, 20; Beliefs about collective victimization depend on exposure to narratives. — Sandra Penic, Guy Elcheroth, and Dario Spini, When Is Collective Exposure to War…, 17
• QUESTION: How does this contrast with the survey finding that direct war exposure increases guilt acceptance? The mechanism seems to be about information source, not exposure itself.

Broader Connections

• Beliefs about collective victimization depend on exposure to narratives. #expands (0.85) — Sandra Penic, Guy Elcheroth, and Dario Spini, When Is Collective Exposure to War…, 17