Social psychology and peace

Abstract

Social psychologists seek to understand how social phenomena are related to attitudes and behaviours, and are impacted by group presence and belonging. Interest in social psychology flourished in the 1940s. Motivated by the Holocaust, researchers wished to understand why individuals would perform such acts of evil, and under what conditions these acts would be most likely to occur. This surge in research paved the way for social psychology’s contribution to the understanding of peace: a contribution not always recognized by social psychologists.