Nichole Argo | Carnegie Mellon University (original) (raw)
Papers by Nichole Argo
Intergroup boundaries are often associated with differences in moral codes. How does the percepti... more Intergroup boundaries are often associated with differences in moral codes. How does the perception of similarity and dissimilarity in moral worldviews influence tolerant relationships between members of different groups? We theorized that the relationship between perceived moral similarity and intergroup tolerance is domain specific. Specifically, we proposed that because people treat autonomy values (e.g., caring for others, being fair) as denoting universal rights and obligations, but binding values (e.g., purity) as denoting rights and obligations that apply preferentially for their own group, perceived similarity on autonomy values should be more relevant than perceived similarity on binding values to intergroup tolerance. Here we describe correlational and experimental evidence to support this prediction from studies carried out in Lebanon (with sectarian groups), in Morocco (with ethnic groups), and in the United States (with ideological groups). Implications for understanding intergroup relations and theories of morality are discussed.
Models for Intercultural …, 2013
Most current approaches to negotiation of resource and political conflicts assume that parties to... more Most current approaches to negotiation of resource and political conflicts assume that parties to these conflicts are rational actors that weigh the costs and benefits of their choices, treat values as though they are fungible, and then act in a way that maximizes their benefits. However, recent research suggests that this is not the case. In other words, people do not treat all values as amenable to tradeoffs, but rather they distinguish between material values having to do with resource pricing and markets and sacred values that reside in the moral realm. Moreover, people seem to apply different reasoning to sacred vs. material values. Even more crucially, what is considered sacred and what is considered material varies among cultures. In this chapter we discuss research by us and others into the nature of sacred values in real world conflicts and the implications of the findings for ongoing political conflicts.
Forthcoming in Medical Decision Making
Religious belief is often thought to motivate violence because it is said to promote norms that e... more Religious belief is often thought to motivate violence because it is said to promote norms that encourage tribalism and the devaluing of the lives of nonbelievers. If true, this should be visible in the multigenerational violent conflict between Palestinians and Israelis which is marked by a religious divide. We conducted experiments with a representative sample of Muslim Palestinian youth (n = 555), examining whether thinking from the perspective of Allah (God), who is the ultimate arbitrator of religious belief, changes the relative value of Jewish Israelis’ lives (compared with Palesti- nian lives). Participants were presented with variants of the classic “trolley dilemma,” in the form of stories where a man can be killed to save the lives of five children who were either Jewish Israeli or Palestinian. They responded from their own perspective and from the perspective of Allah. We find that whereas a large proportion of participants were more likely to endorse saving Palestinian chil- dren than saving Jewish Israeli children, this proportion decreased when thinking from the perspective of Allah. This finding raises the possibility that beliefs about God can mitigate bias against other groups and reduce barriers to peace.
Religious belief is often thought to motivate violence because it is said to promote norms that e... more Religious belief is often thought to motivate violence because it is said to promote norms that encourage tribalism and the devaluing of the lives of nonbelievers. If true, this should be visible in the multigenerational violent conflict between Palestinians and Israelis which is marked by a religious divide. We conducted experiments with a representative sample of Muslim Palestinian youth (n = 555), examining whether thinking from the perspective of Allah (God), who is the ultimate arbitrator of religious belief, changes the relative value of Jewish Israelis’ lives (compared with Palestinian lives). Participants were presented with variants of the classic “trolley dilemma,” in the form of stories where a man can be killed to save the lives of five children who were either Jewish Israeli or Palestinian. They responded from their own perspective and from the perspective of Allah. We find that whereas a large proportion of participants were more likely to endorse saving Palestinian children than saving Jewish Israeli children, this proportion decreased when thinking from the perspective of Allah. This finding raises the possibility that beliefs about God can mitigate bias against other groups and reduce barriers to peace.
Handbook of International Negotiation: Interpersonal, Intercultural and Diplomatic Perspectives
International political negotiations that include sacred values often fall apart, or, when conclu... more International political negotiations that include sacred values often fall apart, or, when concluded, prove unsustainable. Why? What can be done to make these settlements more sustainable? This chapter reviews the literature on sacred values and sacred rhetoric, focusing on why sacred values cannot be mixed with material tradeoffs, how regular values become sacred, what we know about defusing them, and their immutability. It then applies new research to previous proposals for managing sacred values within international negotiations. Though sacred values are immutable, once acknowledged, they can be flexibly managed via tactics such as reframing, repositioning, and reprioritizing. Acknowledging and/or recognizing the other’s sacred values, however, is often a challenge. Thus, we suggest a practical need for SV negotiatior training, and propose a dual (in-group and intergroup), process-based platform that negotiators can use to prepare parties for negotiations involving SVs. Lastly, we identify critical areas for future research.
Why do individuals participate in weak-against-strong resistance, terror or insurgency? Drawing o... more Why do individuals participate in weak-against-strong resistance, terror or insurgency? Drawing on rational choice theory, many claim that individuals join insurgent organizations for self-interested reasons, seeking status, money, protection, or rewards in the afterlife. Another line of research, largely ethnographic and social network based, suggests that prospective fighters are driven by social identity—they join out of an allegiance to communal values, norms of reciprocity, and an orientation towards process rather than outcome.
This project tested these two lines of argument against each other by directly linking values orientations in a refugee camp to professed willingness to participate in resistance or rebellion in two different contexts. Professed willingness to participate in resistance, and especially in violent rebellion, is positively correlated with communal orientation and negatively correlated with self-enhancement values. The strength of correlation grows—negatively for self-enhancement and positively for communal orientations—as anticipated sacrifice increases. Results are discussed.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's question two years ago seemed reasonable enough: "Are we c... more Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's question two years ago seemed reasonable enough: "Are we capturing, killing, or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training, and deploying against us?" It's a popular notion: Charismatic religious leaders and their ideologies inculcate violent convictions among their constituents, and desperate or zealous individuals act on those convictions. By this logic, terror is bound to religious extremism.
This study seeks to ground an old question-What are the motivational relationships and processes ... more This study seeks to ground an old question-What are the motivational relationships and processes driving individuals to self-sacrifice and murder?-in a new unit of analysis: community. Interviews with preempted Palestinian suicide bombers and their social networks point to a 2-phase mechanism. Phase I, the pre-decision period, is influenced by community resistance which can, in time, transform notions of risk, loss, and sacrifice into symbolic capital, i.e. an economy of honor. Within a strongly internalized social identity, the bomber commits to the idea of doing a mission. Phase II, mission preparation, shifts from the dynamics of will to dynamics of focus. Ties to this world are minimized; thoughts and acts are channeled to the mission and afterlife. Policy recommendations include political and military tools for dismantling terrorists' greatest weapon-symbolic capital.
Intergroup boundaries are often associated with differences in moral codes. How does the percepti... more Intergroup boundaries are often associated with differences in moral codes. How does the perception of similarity and dissimilarity in moral worldviews influence tolerant relationships between members of different groups? We theorized that the relationship between perceived moral similarity and intergroup tolerance is domain specific. Specifically, we proposed that because people treat autonomy values (e.g., caring for others, being fair) as denoting universal rights and obligations, but binding values (e.g., purity) as denoting rights and obligations that apply preferentially for their own group, perceived similarity on autonomy values should be more relevant than perceived similarity on binding values to intergroup tolerance. Here we describe correlational and experimental evidence to support this prediction from studies carried out in Lebanon (with sectarian groups), in Morocco (with ethnic groups), and in the United States (with ideological groups). Implications for understanding intergroup relations and theories of morality are discussed.
Models for Intercultural …, 2013
Most current approaches to negotiation of resource and political conflicts assume that parties to... more Most current approaches to negotiation of resource and political conflicts assume that parties to these conflicts are rational actors that weigh the costs and benefits of their choices, treat values as though they are fungible, and then act in a way that maximizes their benefits. However, recent research suggests that this is not the case. In other words, people do not treat all values as amenable to tradeoffs, but rather they distinguish between material values having to do with resource pricing and markets and sacred values that reside in the moral realm. Moreover, people seem to apply different reasoning to sacred vs. material values. Even more crucially, what is considered sacred and what is considered material varies among cultures. In this chapter we discuss research by us and others into the nature of sacred values in real world conflicts and the implications of the findings for ongoing political conflicts.
Forthcoming in Medical Decision Making
Religious belief is often thought to motivate violence because it is said to promote norms that e... more Religious belief is often thought to motivate violence because it is said to promote norms that encourage tribalism and the devaluing of the lives of nonbelievers. If true, this should be visible in the multigenerational violent conflict between Palestinians and Israelis which is marked by a religious divide. We conducted experiments with a representative sample of Muslim Palestinian youth (n = 555), examining whether thinking from the perspective of Allah (God), who is the ultimate arbitrator of religious belief, changes the relative value of Jewish Israelis’ lives (compared with Palesti- nian lives). Participants were presented with variants of the classic “trolley dilemma,” in the form of stories where a man can be killed to save the lives of five children who were either Jewish Israeli or Palestinian. They responded from their own perspective and from the perspective of Allah. We find that whereas a large proportion of participants were more likely to endorse saving Palestinian chil- dren than saving Jewish Israeli children, this proportion decreased when thinking from the perspective of Allah. This finding raises the possibility that beliefs about God can mitigate bias against other groups and reduce barriers to peace.
Religious belief is often thought to motivate violence because it is said to promote norms that e... more Religious belief is often thought to motivate violence because it is said to promote norms that encourage tribalism and the devaluing of the lives of nonbelievers. If true, this should be visible in the multigenerational violent conflict between Palestinians and Israelis which is marked by a religious divide. We conducted experiments with a representative sample of Muslim Palestinian youth (n = 555), examining whether thinking from the perspective of Allah (God), who is the ultimate arbitrator of religious belief, changes the relative value of Jewish Israelis’ lives (compared with Palestinian lives). Participants were presented with variants of the classic “trolley dilemma,” in the form of stories where a man can be killed to save the lives of five children who were either Jewish Israeli or Palestinian. They responded from their own perspective and from the perspective of Allah. We find that whereas a large proportion of participants were more likely to endorse saving Palestinian children than saving Jewish Israeli children, this proportion decreased when thinking from the perspective of Allah. This finding raises the possibility that beliefs about God can mitigate bias against other groups and reduce barriers to peace.
Handbook of International Negotiation: Interpersonal, Intercultural and Diplomatic Perspectives
International political negotiations that include sacred values often fall apart, or, when conclu... more International political negotiations that include sacred values often fall apart, or, when concluded, prove unsustainable. Why? What can be done to make these settlements more sustainable? This chapter reviews the literature on sacred values and sacred rhetoric, focusing on why sacred values cannot be mixed with material tradeoffs, how regular values become sacred, what we know about defusing them, and their immutability. It then applies new research to previous proposals for managing sacred values within international negotiations. Though sacred values are immutable, once acknowledged, they can be flexibly managed via tactics such as reframing, repositioning, and reprioritizing. Acknowledging and/or recognizing the other’s sacred values, however, is often a challenge. Thus, we suggest a practical need for SV negotiatior training, and propose a dual (in-group and intergroup), process-based platform that negotiators can use to prepare parties for negotiations involving SVs. Lastly, we identify critical areas for future research.
Why do individuals participate in weak-against-strong resistance, terror or insurgency? Drawing o... more Why do individuals participate in weak-against-strong resistance, terror or insurgency? Drawing on rational choice theory, many claim that individuals join insurgent organizations for self-interested reasons, seeking status, money, protection, or rewards in the afterlife. Another line of research, largely ethnographic and social network based, suggests that prospective fighters are driven by social identity—they join out of an allegiance to communal values, norms of reciprocity, and an orientation towards process rather than outcome.
This project tested these two lines of argument against each other by directly linking values orientations in a refugee camp to professed willingness to participate in resistance or rebellion in two different contexts. Professed willingness to participate in resistance, and especially in violent rebellion, is positively correlated with communal orientation and negatively correlated with self-enhancement values. The strength of correlation grows—negatively for self-enhancement and positively for communal orientations—as anticipated sacrifice increases. Results are discussed.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's question two years ago seemed reasonable enough: "Are we c... more Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's question two years ago seemed reasonable enough: "Are we capturing, killing, or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training, and deploying against us?" It's a popular notion: Charismatic religious leaders and their ideologies inculcate violent convictions among their constituents, and desperate or zealous individuals act on those convictions. By this logic, terror is bound to religious extremism.
This study seeks to ground an old question-What are the motivational relationships and processes ... more This study seeks to ground an old question-What are the motivational relationships and processes driving individuals to self-sacrifice and murder?-in a new unit of analysis: community. Interviews with preempted Palestinian suicide bombers and their social networks point to a 2-phase mechanism. Phase I, the pre-decision period, is influenced by community resistance which can, in time, transform notions of risk, loss, and sacrifice into symbolic capital, i.e. an economy of honor. Within a strongly internalized social identity, the bomber commits to the idea of doing a mission. Phase II, mission preparation, shifts from the dynamics of will to dynamics of focus. Ties to this world are minimized; thoughts and acts are channeled to the mission and afterlife. Policy recommendations include political and military tools for dismantling terrorists' greatest weapon-symbolic capital.