Emotions in Conflict ― Inhibitors and Facilitators of Peace Making

Social and political psychologists have attempted to reveal the reasons why individuals and societies that acknowledge that peace would improve their personal and collective wellbeing, and are aware of the required actions needed in order to promote it, are simply incapable of making this step forward. Some social psychologists have advocated the idea that certain societal beliefs and collective memories about the nature of the opponent, the ingroup, the history and the current state of the conflict distort the perceptions of society members and prevent them from identifying opportunities for peace.

Could identifying the role of discrete emotions in conflict resolution potentially provide a wide platform for developing pinpoint conflict resolution interventions?

Using a vast array of primary sources, critical literature analysis and first hand personal experiences in various conflict zones (Middle-East, Cyprus, Bosnia, Northern Ireland), Eran Halperin introduces a new perspective on psychological barriers to peace. Halperin focuses on various emotional mechanisms that hamper peace processes, even when parties face real opportunities for conflict resolution. More specifically, he explores how hatred, anger, fear, angst, hope, despair, empathy, guilt, and shame, combined with various emotion regulation strategies, provide emotions-based explanations for people's attitudinal and behavioral reactions to peace-related events during the ongoing process of conflict resolution.

Written in a clear and accessible style, Emotions in Conflict offers a thought provoking and pioneering insight into the role discrete intergroup emotions play in impeding, as well as facilitating, peace process in intractable conflicts. This book is essential reading for psychologists, political scientists and sociologists who study intractable conflicts and their resolution, as well as to psychologists interested in the 'real world' implications of recent theories and findings on emotion and emotion regulation.

Eran Halperin received his PhD in Political Science from Haifa University, and now serves as Senior Lecturer at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Israel. Past Recipient of the Erik Erikson Early Career Award, Eran research uses psychological and political theories and methods to investigate different aspects of inter-group conflicts. More specifically, he is interested in widening the understanding regarding the psychological roots of some of the most destructive political ramifications of inter-group relations.