Sacred Values and Cultural Conflict
Sacred Values and Cultural Conflict
This chapter reviews a body of research on sacred values and cultural conflict. Research conducted in the West Bank, Iran, Indonesia, and India reveals that when people transform a resource, idea, or activity into a sacred value, normative approaches to dispute resolution may fail. In a series of experiments, the authors find that offering material incentives to encourage people to compromise over a sacred value will often “backfre” leading to heightened opposition to such compromise. In contrast, culturally sensitive attempts to offer powerful symbolic gestures—such as a painful apology or sacrifice over one’s own sacred values—often increase flexibility towards compromise. The chapter also discusses a direction of future research focusing on the way people manage sacred values over time.
Keywords: morality, sacred values, backfire effect, cultural conflict, intractable conflict, West Bank, Iran, Indonesia, India
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