ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the research that examined how communication influences perceptions and action in intergroup conflict. The sprawling literature on intergroup conflict devotes its attention to structural arrangements in society, competition between groups or inequalities between groups. The chapter explains that how hostility between groups can emerge and how interventions in communication within and between groups may lead to de-escalation of conflict. It shows that communicating group-based anger towards the out-group can evoke empathy and reduce intergroup conflict. This is because it stresses the value of maintaining a positive long-term intergroup relationship, thereby increasing understanding for the situation. The chapter examines two studies: using natural groups in the Netherlands; and using fictitious minorities that allowed more experimental control. Across the studies the communication of group-based anger was found to reduce destructive conflict intentions compared to control conditions in which only unfairness was communicated, compared to the communication of group-based contempt and compared to the combination of group-based anger and contempt.
