Reminders of a group’s own victimization history increase guilt assigned to others

Evidence

When the ingroup has also suffered violence at the hands of the outgroup, the ingroup’s suffering may be used as a justification for any and all ingroup actions (Bar-Tal, 2003). Reminders of historical oppression by one group might change perceptions of the justifiability of the ingroup’s current actions toward another group. Evidence of this was obtained in the Wohl and Branscombe (this volume, Chapter 15) research. When Jewish–North Americans were reminded of their group’s prior victimization by Germans, greater collective guilt was assigned and less forgiveness of Palestinians was reported compared to when the ingroup’s victimization history was not salient. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt, 2145

Categorization

• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Reminding a victimized group of old harms raises guilt assigned to a new enemy. — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 1976; Victimization-history reminders shift perceivers toward more exclusive categorization — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 1995; Never forget the past psychologically means never forget we differ from other groups — Nyla R. Branscombe and Bertjan Doosje (eds.), Collective Guilt: International…, 2005 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Chroniclers of in-group atrocities shift attention to their own group’s suffering #complicates (0.80)
• Conflict escalation lowers group-based guilt and raises exonerating cognitions over time. #expands (0.72) — Sonia Roccas and Yechiel Klar and Ido Liviatan, The Paradox of Group-Based Guilt, 87