Religion and politics as a dangerous mix: Effects of religiosity on intergroup forgiveness and reconciliation in a post-conflict setting.

This study initially tested whether adding religious symbols to conflict narratives impacts prosocial attitudes of respondents and came with negative results. In other words, adding religious codes to already known narratives about conflicts did not have a significant impact on participants’ attitudes. In a subsequent SEM analysis, it was found that religiosity in both groups is strongly correlated with group-centricity, which negatively mediates its relationship with both forgiveness and reconciliation. We conclude that collectivistic forms of religiosity that privilege ingroup solidarity might have negative effects on intergroup forgiveness and reconciliation in post-conflict settings. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)
Source: Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research