Investigating Mind Types for Preventing Conflict and Promoting Peace in the Middle East

Abstract: Scholars too often assume that understanding and mitigating destructive conflict will provide sufficient insight into the conditions that foster peace. Recent applications of the Rule Development Experimentation Method (hereafter RDE) within the peace-building field offer practical ways to measure the distinct processes associated with conflict prevention and peace promotion. This study applies concepts from RDE and social psychology to better understand how peace-building organizations can leverage the motivational differences between preventing conflict and promoting peace to increase constituent engagement. In particular, this study hypothesizes that Israelis and Palestinians with conflict-prevention mindsets are significantly more likely to engage with peace-building organizations framed as preventing harmful conflict, while Israelis and Palestinians with peace-promotion mindsets are significantly more likely to engage with peace-building organizations framed as promoting peace.

Keywords: peace, conflict, mind-types

Topic: POLI   |   Format: Extended Abstract