Have a personal or library account? Click to login
“Sorry for Congo, Let’s Make Amends”: Belgians’ Ideological Worldviews Predict Attitudes Towards Apology and Reparation for its Colonial Past Cover

“Sorry for Congo, Let’s Make Amends”: Belgians’ Ideological Worldviews Predict Attitudes Towards Apology and Reparation for its Colonial Past

Open Access
|Aug 2021

References

  1. 1Altemeyer, B. (1981). Right-wing authoritarianism. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press.
  2. 2Bäckström, M., & Björklund, F. (2007). Structural modeling of generalized prejudice: The role of social dominance, authoritarianism, and empathy. Journal of Individual Differences, 28(1), 1017. DOI: 10.1027/1614-0001.28.1.10
  3. 3Bilali, R., Iqbal, Y., & Freel, S. (2019). Understanding and counteracting genocide denial. In L. Newman (Ed.), Confronting humanity at its worst: Social psychological perspectives on genocide (pp. 284311). New York: Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190685942.003.0011
  4. 4Blatz, C. W., Schumann, K., & Ross, M. (2009). Government apologies for historical injustices. Political Psychology, 30(2), 219241. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2008.00689.x
  5. 5Bloomfield, D. (2003). Reconciliation: An introduction. In D. Bloomfield, T. Barnes & L. Huyse (Eds.), Reconciliation after violent conflict. A handbook (pp. 1018). Stockholm: IDEA.
  6. 6Brown, R., & Čehajić, S. (2008). Dealing with the past and facing the future: Mediators of the effects of collective guilt and shame in Bosnia and Herzegovina. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38(4), 669684. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.466
  7. 7Brown, R., González, R., Zagefka, H., Manzi, J., & Čehajić, S. (2008). Nuestra culpa: collective guilt and shame as predictors of reparation for historical wrongdoing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94(1), 7590. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.94.1.75
  8. 8Cacioppo, J. T., Gardner, W. L., & Berntson, G. G. (1997). Beyond bipolar conceptualizations and measures: The case of attitudes and evaluative space. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 1, 325. DOI: 10.1207/s15327957pspr0101_2
  9. 9Canvas. (2018). Kinderen van de kolonie. [Children of the Colony]. Six-episode documentary aired from November 20, 2018 to January 1, 2019.
  10. 10Čehajić-Clancy, S., Effron, D. A., Halperin, E., Liberman, V., & Ross, L. D. (2011). Affirmation, acknowledgment of in-group responsibility, group-based guilt, and support for reparative measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(2), 256270. DOI: 10.1037/a0023936
  11. 11Davis, M. H. (1983). The effects of dispositional empathy on emotional reactions and helping: A multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality, 51(2), 167184. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.1983.tb00860.x
  12. 12Doosje, B., Branscombe, N. R., Spears, R., & Manstead, A. S. (1998). Guilty by association: When one’s group has a negative history. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(4), 872. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.75.4.872
  13. 13Duckitt, J. (2001). A dual-process cognitive-motivational theory of ideology and prejudice. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology, 33, 41113. New York: Academic Press. DOI: 10.1016/S0065-2601(01)80004-6
  14. 14Duckitt, J., Bizumic, B., Krauss, S. W., & Heled, E. (2010). A tripartite approach to right-wing authoritarianism: The authoritarianism-conservatism-traditionalism model. Political Psychology, 31(5), 685715. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9221.2010.00781.x
  15. 15Duckitt, J., & Sibley, C. G. (2010). Personality, ideology, prejudice, and politics: A dual-process motivational model. Journal of Personality, 78(6), 18611894. DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00672.x
  16. 16Ewans, M. (2017). European atrocity, African catastrophe: Leopold II, the Congo Free State and its aftermath. Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781315829173
  17. 17Feys, T. (2003). The emigration policy of the Belgian government from Belgium to the US through the port of Antwerp 1842–1914. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Belgium: Ghent University.
  18. 18Franssen, V., Dhont, K., & Hiel, A. V. (2013). Age-related differences in ethnic prejudice: Evidence of the mediating effect of right-wing attitudes. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 23(3), 252257. DOI: 10.1002/casp.2109
  19. 19Fuertes, J. N., Miville, M. L., Mohr, J. J., Sedlacek, W. E., & Gretchen, D. (2000). Factor structure and short form of the Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity Scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 33(3), 157169. DOI: 10.1080/07481756.2000.12069007
  20. 20Gann, L. H. (2015). The Rulers of Belgian Africa, 1884–1914. Princeton University Press. DOI: 10.1515/9781400869091
  21. 21Gausel, N., Leach, C. W., Vignoles, V. L., & Brown, R. (2012). Defend or repair? Explaining responses to in-group moral failure by disentangling feelings of shame, rejection, and inferiority. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 941960. DOI: 10.1037/a0027233
  22. 22Gibson, J. L. (2006). The contributions of truth to reconciliation: Lessons from South Africa. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 50(3), 409432. DOI: 10.1177/0022002706287115
  23. 23Goddeeris, I., Lauro, A., & Vanthemsche, G. (Eds.) (2020). Le Congo colonial: Une histoire en questions. La Renaissance du livre.
  24. 24González, R., Manzi, J., & Noor, M. (2011). Intergroup forgiveness and reparation in Chile: The role of identity and intergroup emotions. In L. R. Tropp & R. K. Mallett (Eds.), Moving beyond prejudice reduction: Pathways to positive intergroup relations (p. 221239). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. DOI: 10.1037/12319-011
  25. 25Harth, N. S., Kessler, T., & Leach, C. W. (2008). Advantaged group’s emotional reactions to intergroup inequality: The dynamics of pride, guilt, and sympathy. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(1), 115129. DOI: 10.1177/0146167207309193
  26. 26Ho, A., Sidanius, J., Pratto, F., Levin, S., Thomsen, L., Kteily, N., & Sheehy-Skeffington, J. (2012). Social dominance orientation revisiting the structure and function of a variable predicting social and political attitudes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(5), 583606. DOI: 10.1177/0146167211432765
  27. 27Hornsey, M. J., & Wohl, M. J. (2013). We are sorry: Intergroup apologies and their tenuous link with intergroup forgiveness. European Review of Social Psychology, 24(1), 131. DOI: 10.1080/10463283.2013.822206
  28. 28Howell, A. J., Turowski, J. B., & Buro, K. (2012). Guilt, empathy, and apology. Personality and Individual Differences, 53(7), 917922. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2012.06.021
  29. 29Hunnewell, J. F. (1869). Bibliography of the Hawaiian Islands. Productivity Press.
  30. 30Iyer, A., Leach, C., & Pedersen, A. (2004). Racial wrongs and restitutions: The role of guilt and other group-based emotions. In N. R. Branscombe & B. Doosje (Eds.), Collective guilt: International perspectives (pp. 262283). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9781139106931.016
  31. 31Iyer, A., Schmader, T., & Lickel, B. (2007). Why individuals protest the perceived transgressions of their country: The role of anger, shame, and guilt. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 33(4), 572587. DOI: 10.1177/0146167206297402
  32. 32Kanyangara, P., Rimé, B., Paez, D., & Yzerbyt, V. (2014). Trust, individual guilt, collective guilt and dispositions toward reconciliation among Rwandan survivors and prisoners before and after their participation in postgenocide gacaca courts in Rwanda. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 2(1), 401416. DOI: 10.5964/jspp.v2i1.299
  33. 33Karunaratne, K., & Laham, S. M. (2019). Social dominance orientation predicts opposition to hierarchy-attenuating intergroup apologies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(12), 16511665. DOI: 10.1177/0146167219838549
  34. 34Lastrego, S., & Licata, L. (2010). ‘Should a country’s leaders apologize for its past misdeeds?’ An analysis of the effects of both public apologies from a Belgian official and perception of Congolese victims’ continued suffering on Belgians’ representations of colonial action, support for reparation, and attitudes towards the Congolese. Revista de Psicologia Social, 25(1), 6172. DOI: 10.1174/021347410790193432
  35. 35Leach, C. W., & Cidam, A. (2015). When is shame linked to constructive approach orientation? A meta-analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(6), 9831002. DOI: 10.1037/pspa0000037
  36. 36Leach, C. W., Iyer, A., & Pedersen, A. (2006). Anger and guilt about ingroup advantage explain the willingness for political action. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32(9), 12321245. DOI: 10.1177/0146167206289729
  37. 37Leunissen, J. M., De Cremer, D., Folmer, C. P. R., & Van Dijke, M. (2013). The apology mismatch: Asymmetries between victim’s need for apologies and perpetrator’s willingness to apologize. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(3), 315324. DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2012.12.005
  38. 38Licata, L., Khan, S. S., Lastrego, S., Cabecinhas, R., Valentim, J. P., & Liu, J. H. (2018). Social representations of colonialism in Africa and in Europe: Structure and relevance for contemporary intergroup relations. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 62, 6879. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2017.05.004
  39. 39Licata, L., & Klein, O. (2005). Regards croisés sur un passé commun: Anciens colonisés et anciens coloniaux face à l’action belge au Congo. In M. Sanchez-Mazas Cutanda & L. Licata (Eds.), L’Autre: Regards psychosociaux. Grenoble: Presses Universitaires de Grenoble.
  40. 40Licata, L., & Klein, O. (2010). Holocaust or benevolent paternalism? Intergenerational comparisons on collective memories and emotions about Belgium’s colonial past. International Journal of Conflict and Violence, 4(1), 4557.
  41. 41Lu, T., & McKeown, S. (2018). The effects of empathy, perceived injustice and group identity on altruistic preferences: Towards compensation or punishment. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 48(12), 683691. DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12558
  42. 42Lumumba, P. (1960) Speech at the Ceremony of the Proclamation of the Congo’s Independence. Lumbubashi.
  43. 43Matti, S. A. (2010). The Democratic Republic of the Congo? Corruption, patronage, and competitive authoritarianism in the DRC. Africa Today, 56(4), 4261. DOI: 10.2979/aft.2010.56.4.42
  44. 44McGarty, C., Pedersen, A., Leach, C. W., Mansell, T., Waller, J., & Bliuc, A. M. (2005). Group-based guilt as a predictor of commitment to apology. British Journal of Social Psychology, 44(4), 659680. DOI: 10.1348/014466604X18974
  45. 45Meleady, R., & Vermue, M. (2019). The effect of intergroup contact on solidarity-based collective action is mediated by reductions in SDO. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 49(5), 307318. DOI: 10.1111/jasp.12586
  46. 46Mifune, N., Inamasu, K., Kohama, S., Ohtsubo, Y., & Tago, A. (2019). Social dominance orientation as an obstacle to intergroup apology. PloS one, 14(1), e0211379. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0211379
  47. 47Miville, M. L., Gelso, C. J., Pannu, R., Liu, W., Touradji, P., Holloway, P., & Fuertes, J. (1999). Appreciating similarities and valuing differences: The Miville-Guzman universality-diversity scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 46, 291. DOI: 10.1037/0022-0167.46.3.291
  48. 48Nicol, A. A., & Rounding, K. (2013). Alienation and empathy as mediators of the relation between social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism and expressions of racism and sexism. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(3), 294299. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2013.03.009
  49. 49Nield, R. (2015). China’s foreign places: The foreign presence in China in the treaty port era, 1840–1943. Hong Kong University Press.
  50. 50Noor, M., Brown, R., Gonzàlez, R., Manzi, J., & Lewis, C. A. (2008). On positive psychological outcomes: What helps groups with a history of conflict to forgive and reconcile with each other? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34(6), 819832. DOI: 10.1177/0146167208315555
  51. 51Noor, M., & Halabi, S. (2018). Can we forgive a militant outgroup member? The role of perspective-taking. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 21(4), 246255. DOI: 10.1111/ajsp.12328
  52. 52Paluck, E. L. (2009). Reducing intergroup prejudice and conflict using the media: A field experiment in Rwanda. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(3), 574587. DOI: 10.1037/a0011989
  53. 53Pittinsky, T., Rosenthal, S., & Montoya, R. (2011). Measuring positive attitudes toward outgroups: Development and validation of the allophilia scale. In L. Tropp & R. Mallet (Eds.), Moving beyond prejudice reduction: Pathways to positive intergroup relations (pp. 4160). Washington D. C.: American Psychological Association. DOI: 10.1037/12319-002
  54. 54Pratto, F., Sidanius, J., & Levin, S. (2006). Social dominance theory and the dynamics of intergroup relations: Taking stock and looking forward. European Review of Social Psychology, 17(1), 271320. DOI: 10.1080/10463280601055772
  55. 55Pratto, F., Sidanius, J., Stallworth, L. M., & Malle, B. F. (1994). Social dominance orientation: A personality variable predicting social and political attitudes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(4), 741763. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.67.4.741
  56. 56Poteat, V. P., & Spanierman, L. B. (2008). Further validation of the psychosocial costs of racism to whites scale among employed adults. The Counseling Psychologist, 36(6), 871894. DOI: 10.1177/0011000007310002
  57. 57Schechtman, Z., & Tanus, H. (2006). Counseling groups for Arab adolescents in an intergroup conflict in Israel: Report of an outcome study. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 12, 119137. DOI: 10.1207/s15327949pac1202_2
  58. 58Scher, S. J., & Darley, J. M. (1997). How effective are the things people say to apologize? Effects of the realization of the apology speech act. Journal of Psycholinguistic Research, 26(1), 127140. DOI: 10.1023/A:1025068306386
  59. 59Seppälä, E. M., Simon-Thomas, E., Brown, S. L., Worline, M. C., Cameron, C. D., & Doty, J. R. (Eds.) (2017). The Oxford handbook of compassion science. Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190464684.001.0001
  60. 60Shepherd, L., Spears, R., & Manstead, A. S. (2013). The self-regulatory role of anticipated group-based shame and guilt in inhibiting in-group favoritism. European Journal of Social Psychology, 43(6), 493504. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.1971
  61. 61Soble, J. R., Spanierman, L. B., & Liao, H. Y. (2011). Effects of a brief video intervention on white university students’ racial attitudes. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58(1), 151157. DOI: 10.1037/a0021158
  62. 62Staub, E., Pearlman, L. A., Gubin, A., & Hagengimana, A. (2005). Healing, reconciliation, forgiving and the prevention of violence after genocide or mass killing: An intervention and its experimental evaluation in Rwanda. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24(3), 297334. DOI: 10.1521/jscp.24.3.297.65617
  63. 63Tavuchis, N. (1991). Mea culpa: A sociology of apology and reconciliation. Stanford University Press.
  64. 64The Guardian. (2020). Belgian king expresses ‘deepest regrets’ for brutal colonial rule. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/30/belgian-king-philippe-expresses-profound-regrets-for-brutal-colonial-rule.
  65. 65Rees, J. H., Allpress, J. A., & Brown, R. (2013). Nie wieder: Group-based emotions for in-group wrongdoing affect attitudes toward unrelated minorities. Political Psychology, 34(3), 387407. DOI: 10.1111/pops.12003
  66. 66Rimé, B., Bouchat, P., Klein, O., & Licata, L. (2015). When collective memories of victimhood fade: Generational evolution of intergroup attitudes and political aspirations in Belgium. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45(4), 515532. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.2104
  67. 67Rimé, B., Kanyangara, P., Paez, D., & Yzerbyt, V. (2012). Social rituals and collective expression of emotion after a collective trauma: Participation in Gacaca and assimilation of the Rwandan genocide. In J. Kai & T. Morton (Eds.), Restoring civil societies: The psychology of intervention and engagement following crisis (pp. 177191). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. DOI: 10.1002/9781118347683.ch10
  68. 68Sibley, C. G., Liu, J. H., Duckitt, J., & Khan, S. S. (2008). Social representations of history and the legitimation of social inequality: The form and function of historical negation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38(3), 542565. DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.449
  69. 69Van Assche, J. (2019). Ethnic diversity, ideological climates, and intergroup relations: A person × context approach. Psychologica Belgica, 59(1), 3349. DOI: 10.5334/pb.465
  70. 70Van Assche, J., Bostyn, D. H., De keersmaecker, J., Dardenne, B., & Hansenne, M. (2017). Intergroup reconciliation between Flemings and Walloons: The predictive value of cognitive style, authoritarian ideology, and intergroup emotions. Psychologica Belgica, 57, 132155. DOI: 10.5334/pb.333
  71. 71Van Assche, J., Politi, E., Van Dessel, P., & Phalet, K. (2020). To punish or to assist? Divergent reactions to ingroup and outgroup members disobeying social distancing. British Journal of Social Psychology, 59(3), 594606. DOI: 10.1111/bjso.12395
  72. 72Van Assche, J., & Van De Weghe, A. (2020). Attitudes towards in- and outgroups in South African ethnic groups: The role of essentialism and universal-diverse orientation. The Saharan, 1(2), 2244. DOI: 10.1080/09546553.2019.1634057
  73. 73Van Zomeren, M., Spears, R., Fischer, A. H., & Leach, C. W. (2004). Put your money where your mouth is! Explaining collective action tendencies through group-based anger and group efficacy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(5), 649664. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.87.5.649
  74. 74Viaene, V. (2008). King Leopold’s imperialism and the origins of the Belgian colonial party, 1860–1905. The Journal of Modern History, 80(4), 741790. DOI: 10.1086/591110
  75. 75Wohl, M. J., Hornsey, M. J., & Philpot, C. R. (2011). A critical review of official public apologies: Aims, pitfalls, and a staircase model of effectiveness. Social Issues and Policy Review, 5(1), 70100. DOI: 10.1111/j.1751-2409.2011.01026.x
  76. 76Zaiser, E., & Giner-Sorolla, R. (2013). Saying sorry: Shifting obligation after conciliatory acts satisfies perpetrator group members. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 105(4), 585604. DOI: 10.1037/a0033296
  77. 77Zhao, K., Faulkner, N., & Perry, R. (2020). Social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, and willingness to carry out three domains of socially inclusive behaviors in a public campaign. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy. DOI: 10.1111/asap.12200
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/irsp.486 | Journal eISSN: 2397-8570
Language: English
Submitted on: Jul 28, 2020
Accepted on: May 26, 2021
Published on: Aug 20, 2021
Published by: Ubiquity Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2021 Jasper Van Assche, Arne Roets, Tessa Haesevoets, Masi Noor, published by Ubiquity Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.