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Toward the need to discriminate types of attackers and defenders in intergroup conflicts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2019

Dashalini Katna  and
Bobby K. Cheon
Dashalini Katna
Affiliation:
School of Social Sciences (Psychology), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637332. h160007@ntu.edu.sg bkcheon@ntu.edu.sg
Bobby K. Cheon
Affiliation:
School of Social Sciences (Psychology), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 637332. h160007@ntu.edu.sg bkcheon@ntu.edu.sg
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Abstract

Here, we argue that attackers in intergroup conflicts are also likely to hold strong identity fusion, anticipate threat from the out-groups, and retaliate by signaling preemptive aggressiveness, which may not be asymmetrically exclusive to defenders. We propose that the study of the intergroup and intragroup dynamics could highlight more specific, robust markers to differentiate types of defenders from attackers.

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Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 42 , 2019 , e127
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Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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