Silencing the Past: Effects of intergroup contact on acknowledgment of ingroup responsibility

This research examines the effects of intergroup contact on readiness to acknowledge in-group responsibility for atrocities and harm committed in the past. One correlational study (N = 284) set in the context of the postconflict intergroup relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina found that good-quality contact with members from the victim group predicted acknowledgment of in-group responsibility through an increase in perspective taking and a decrease in perceived victimhood. Ordinary Serbian adolescents who engaged in contact with Bosnian Muslims were more ready to acknowledge that their own group was responsible for atrocities committed during the 1992-1995 war. Practical and social implications of these findings are discussed.