Abstract of "How Humiliation Fuels Intractable Conflict: The Effects of Emotional Roles on Recall and Reactions to Conflictual Encounters" by J.S. Goldman and P.T. Coleman

The present research study empirically tests one way in which the emotional experience of humiliation may contribute to the enduring nature of some conflicts. This study contends that the ways in which emotions are socially constructed affects how emotions are experienced, acted upon, and recalled. The degree to which conflicts escalate and become stuck in cycles of violence is affected by these emotional dynamics. In the present study, participants were asked to place themselves in the shoes of someone who was being confronted publicly by an authority figure. As compared to participants who did not perceive the norms to privilege aggression, participants who did perceive such norms to privilege aggression reported a) intentions to be more aggressive in reaction to the event, and b) a higher degree of humiliation and anger when they recalled the event one week later. The results of this study suggest that differing perceptions of the social norms regarding acceptable emotional and behavioral reactions to social encounters affect not only individuals' immediate reactions but also their long-term reactions, which may perpetuate the humiliation-violence cycle in protracted conflicts.