Cognitive rather than emotional modification in peace education programs: advantages and limitations

Abstract

Contact intervention programs are being used as the main vehicle to enhance positive relationships between conflict groups. Current research seeks to reveal the force driving processes that lead to positive contact between conflict groups, and points to the importance of emotional modification. Acknowledging the centrality of emotional modification, the present study points to the importance of defining the desired goals of contact interventions. It aimed to reveal which of the emotional, cognitive, motivational or behavioural components of intergroup relations were most enhanced in peace intervention programs for Israeli Jewish and Bedouin Arab high‐school students in Israel. The findings indicate the cognitive realm as the most enhanced. These findings raise the question of the relevance of emotional modification in regions of persistent conflict, and suggest that intervention methods and desired outcomes must be closely linked. Finally, implications for moral education are discussed.

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Institute for Community Education and Research, School of Education, Bar‐Ilan University, Israel. The author would like to thank Ron Best for his helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper.