In DeFENCE of the In-Group Historical Narrative in an Intractable Intergroup Conflict: An Individual-Difference Perspective

Groups, particularly when immersed in an intractable intergroup conflict, place considerable value on protecting and defending their historical group narrative. However, some group members are more narrative-protective than others. In Study 1, we introduce a new individual-difference measure of motivation to achieve a Firmly Entrenched Narrative ClosurE (FENCE) and test it on several Israeli samples (N=1132). In Study 2 (N=120), we show that in-group glorification, right-wing political orientation, and right-wing-authoritarianism, but not attachment to the In-group, nonspecific need for cognitive closure, or need for cognition, predict FENCE motivation and Behavioral Lack of Openness to Counternarratives (BLOC). In Studies 3 and 4, we show using international (N=24) and Israeli (N=78) samples that a belief in the zero-sum nature of the conflict is related to FENCE and BLOC. In Study 5, we demonstrate that FENCE affects quality of recall of conflict information. The potential merit of FENCE in accounting for the variability among group members in protecting the group narrative is discussed.