To Apologize or to Compensate for Colonial Injustices? The Role of Representations of the Colonial Past, Group-Based Guilt, and In-Group Identification

Borja Martinovic; Karen Freihorst; Magdalena Bobowik

doi:10.5334/irsp.484

Figures & Tables

Table 1

The measurement model obtained from a series of Confirmatory Factor Analyses.

Model	χ²	Δ χ²	CFI	TLI	RMSEA	SRMR
Model A: 4-factor solution representations, guilt, reparations, identity	1194.788 (164)***		0.861	0.839	0.091	0.074
Model B: 5-factor solution positive representations, negative representations, guilt, reparations, identity	1052.014 (160)***	142.774***	0.879	0.857	0.085	0.069
Model C: 6-factor solution positive representations, negative representations, guilt, apology, reparations, identity	832.375 (155)***	219.639***	0.908	0.888	0.076	0.062
Model D: 7-factor solution positive representations, negative representations, guilt, apology, reparations in NL, reparations in former colonies, identity	638.291 (149)***	194.084***	0.934	0.916	0.066	0.056
Model E: 7-factor solution Similar to Model D, first item of positive representations removed	395.522 (131)***	242.769***	0.963	0.951	0.051	0.039

[i] Note: χ² = Chi Square; Δχ² = Chi Square Difference Test; CFI = Comparative Fit Index; TLI = Tucker Lewis Index; RMSEA = Root Mean Square Error of Approximation; SRMR = Standardized Root Mean Square Residual; *** p < 0.001.

Table 2

Descriptive statistics of the latent variables used in the analysis (N = 763).

	Range	Mean	SD	Wald-test
Political apology	1–7	2.79	1.35	359.39***
Reparations to colonial minorities in NL	1–7	3.25	1.09	163.19***
Reparations in the former colonies	1–7	3.23	1.37	150.94***
Positive representations	1–7	4.74	0.79	272.23***
Negative representations	1–7	5.33	0.78	839.81***
Group-based guilt	1–7	2.95	1.50	223.89***
In-group identification	1–7	5.70	1.13	1136.05***

[i] Note: Measurement model identified using reference items, *** p < 0.001. Wald tests χ²(1) against the mid-point of the scale (4). NL = The Netherlands.

Table 3

Correlations between the latent variables (N = 763).

	1	2	3	4	5	6
1. Political apology
2. Reparations to colonial minorities in NL	0.708***
3. Reparations in the former colonies	0.594***	0.769***
4. Positive representations	–0.223***	–0.172***	–0.208***
5. Negative representations	0.298***	0.228***	0.291***	–0.270***
6. Group-based guilt	0.720***	0.525***	0.526***	–0.298***	0.302***
7. In-group identification	–0.114*	–0.134^†	–0.062	0.194***	–0.114^†	–0.029

[i] Note: NL = The Netherlands. ^† p < 0.10, * p < 0.05, *** p < 0.001.

Findings from a structural equation model for the mediation analysis (N = 763).
*Note*: Model fit: χ²(df) = 575.356 (176), p < 0.001, CFI = 0.945, TLI = 0.929, RMSEA = 0.055, SRMR = 0.047. Unstandardized estimates are presented with S.E. in brackets. Nonsignificant paths are presented as dotted lines. Error covariances between the three dependent variables as well as between the two independent variables were accounted for. Control variables age, gender, education, and national identification, were included in the model. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.

Table 4

Decomposition of total, direct and indirect effects from the mediation model (N = 763).

	Political apology		Reparations to colonial minorities in the Netherlands		Reparations in the former colonies
	B	SE	B	SE	B	SE
Positive representations
Total effect	–0.275*	0.107	–0.214*	0.085	–0.300**	0.095
Direct effect	–0.017	0.087	–0.083	0.079	–0.132	0.082
Indirect effect	–0.258***	0.069	–0.131**	0.039	–0.168***	0.046
CI Indirect effect	[–0.394, –0.122]		[–0.208, –0.054]		[–0.258, –0.079]
Negative representations
Total effect	0.418***	0.096	0.235**	0.080	0.418***	0.087
Direct effect	0.099	0.079	0.073	0.068	0.209*	0.083
Indirect effect	0.320***	0.062	0.162***	0.040	0.208***	0.044
CI Indirect effect	[0.199, 0.441]		[0.084, 0.240]		[0.123, 0.294]

[i] Note: Unstandardized coefficients presented. CI = confidence interval. Bootstrapping with 5000 replacement samples applied. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.

Table 5

Unstandardized regression coefficients for the control variables in the mediation model (N = 763).

	Political apology	Reparations to colonial minorities in the Netherlands	Reparations in the former colonies	Group-based guilt
National identification	–0.106 (0.050)*	–0.133 (0.043)**	–0.042 (0.048)	0.009 (0.061)
Female	–0.103 (0.094)	0.028 (0.088)	–0.227 (0.092)*	0.513 (0.108)***
Age	0.003 (0.004)	0.008 (0.004)*	0.009 (0.004)*	0.005 (0.005)
Education	0.009 (0.032)	0.088 (0.027)**	0.096 (0.032)**	–0.056 (0.039)

[i] Note: Fit statistics: χ²(df) = 575.356 (176)***, CFI = 0.945, TLI = 0.929, RMSEA = 0.055, SRMR = 0.047. Standard errors in the brackets. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001.