Final Report Summary - EMOTIONS IN CONFLICT (Direct and Indirect Emotion Regulation as a New Path of Conflict Resolution)
The Emotions in Conflict project, led by principal investigator Eran Halperin and members of his research team, aims to promote our understanding of whether and how intergroup emotions can be effectively regulated to reduce violence, promote more conciliatory positions, and pave the way to conflict resolution. Since its inception, the project has enabled the research team and the Psychology of Intergroup Conflict and Reconciliation lab (PICR) in general to position itself at the cutting edge of global research in the field, and to promote the theoretical discourse and empirical research to the forefront of social and political psychology.
The Emotions in Conflict research team, which includes over thirty Israeli and international researchers and students, has already published numerous book chapters and articles in leading academic journals. Both theoretical and empirical, these publications present a general framework to examine various effects of emotion in conflict, short-term consequences of direct emotion regulation and motivation for emotion regulation in conflict, and short-term consequences of indirect emotion regulation. Many of these publications were prepared in collaboration with scholars from disciplines outside of psychology, including education, communication, political science, and digital media.
The Emotions in Conflict research team has also developed and employed novel and unique methodologies, such as ReApp - an empirical game-based app designed to train people in emotion regulation, specifically in cognitive reappraisal, in a fun and engaging way in order to reduce negative intergroup emotions and increase support for conciliatory positions towards the rival group. Other research directions within the project have focused on fieldwork and interventions, some of which were large-scale and were disseminated through various communication means (e.g. online, billboards, flyers etc.).
The principal investigator Eran Halperin and members of the Emotions in Conflict research team regularly take part in local and international academic meetings and conferences, in which they disseminate findings and knowledge, and are exposed to relevant research conducted by leading scholars. They also meet regularly with non-academic audiences; a large portion of these meetings is carried out through the Applied Center for Psychology of Social Change, established as a part of the PICR research lab with the goal of bridging academia and the field and strengthening the effectiveness of social-change civil-society organizations and initiatives.
The Emotions in Conflict research team, which includes over thirty Israeli and international researchers and students, has already published numerous book chapters and articles in leading academic journals. Both theoretical and empirical, these publications present a general framework to examine various effects of emotion in conflict, short-term consequences of direct emotion regulation and motivation for emotion regulation in conflict, and short-term consequences of indirect emotion regulation. Many of these publications were prepared in collaboration with scholars from disciplines outside of psychology, including education, communication, political science, and digital media.
The Emotions in Conflict research team has also developed and employed novel and unique methodologies, such as ReApp - an empirical game-based app designed to train people in emotion regulation, specifically in cognitive reappraisal, in a fun and engaging way in order to reduce negative intergroup emotions and increase support for conciliatory positions towards the rival group. Other research directions within the project have focused on fieldwork and interventions, some of which were large-scale and were disseminated through various communication means (e.g. online, billboards, flyers etc.).
The principal investigator Eran Halperin and members of the Emotions in Conflict research team regularly take part in local and international academic meetings and conferences, in which they disseminate findings and knowledge, and are exposed to relevant research conducted by leading scholars. They also meet regularly with non-academic audiences; a large portion of these meetings is carried out through the Applied Center for Psychology of Social Change, established as a part of the PICR research lab with the goal of bridging academia and the field and strengthening the effectiveness of social-change civil-society organizations and initiatives.