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It is a known fact that some Belgians collaborated with the Nazi occupier during WWII. However, according to a popular myth, collaboration was widespread in Flanders, whereas Walloons bravely resisted. Of course, historical reality is much more nuanced, but this oversimplification has largely resurfaced in political debates surrounding the Belgian linguistic conflict. Demands for amnesty for former collaborators addressed by Flemish nationalist parties are a case in point. We conducted two studies in order to investigate Belgians' attitudes towards this political issue in the two linguistic communities. In 2012, a first survey (N = 521; 315 French-speakers (FS) and 206 Dutch-speakers (DS)) showed that WWII collaboration was morally condemned, and attitudes towards amnesty were predominantly negative, in both groups. However, DS tended to support amnesty more than FS. This effect of Linguistic Group on Support for Amnesty was mediated by Judgments of Morality of collaboration, and this mediation was moderated by Linguistic identification. In 2015, a second survey (N = 774; 476 FS and 298 DS) confirmed these results. Moreover, judgments about the Unfairness of the repression of collaboration also mediated the effect of Linguistic Group on Support for Amnesty. These results suggest that differences in political position-taking regarding the granting of amnesty between DS and FS are, at least partly, due to different attitudes towards collaboration and to the membership to a linguistic community.

A survey revealed that researchers still seem to encounter difficulties to cope with outliers. Detecting outliers by determining an interval spanning over the mean plus/minus three standard deviations remains a common practice. However, since both the mean and the standard deviation are particularly sensitive to outliers, this method is problematic. We highlight the disadvantages of this method and present the median absolute deviation, an alternative and more robust measure of dispersion that is easy to implement. We also explain the procedures for calculating this indicator in SPSS and R software. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Recent work on psychological entitativity has suggested that perceiving Europe as an homogeneous entity may increase identification with this group. We suggest that this effect might in fact be due to the positively valued political projects that these descriptions serve rather than to their intrinsic qualities. In line with this view, it was predicted that a positive relation between perception of similarity among European nations and European identification would be obtained only when similarity was presented as desirable for the accomplishment of the European integration project. Generally pro-European students in three Brussels secondary schools (N=122) read a speech stressing the efficiency of a policy - increasing similarities vs. preserving differences between countries - in the successful development of the EU, or no text in the Control condition. They then reported their level of European identification and their perception of similarity among European nations. Results show that countries were judged as less similar in the "Difference desirable" condition than in the "Similarity desirable" or control conditions (no text), while European identification remained stable. Moreover, Perception of Similarity significantly predicted European Identification only when similarity had been presented as desirable. In the two other conditions - when no text was presented and when difference was presented as desirable -, there was no significant relation between these two variables. This study shows that perceiving an in-group as a homogeneous entity does not enhance identification unless it is considered as desirable for the in-group. In the case of the European Union, it suggests that perceiving heterogeneity among countries should not impede the development of a European identity. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

In the 1960s, a historical event occurred at one of Europe's most prestigious universities: The Dutch-speaking students forced the French-speaking students to relocate and establish their own university. We compared the extent to which members of each social group developed elaborate memories of the events surrounding the conflict and whether they were associated with differences in rehearsal type (media, conversational, rumination) and initiating conditions (importance, political engagement, and negative/positive emotions). All participants were university students at the time of the conflict. We found that Dutch-speakers exhibited more elaborate memories compared to French-speakers and that importance was associated with elaborate memories only for the Dutch-speakers. However, positive emotions appear to be critical in the formation of elaborate memories across the social groups. We found no such associations for negative emotions. We discuss these results in terms of the social/cognitive processes transcending social group membership in understanding how individuals remember past conflicts.

In the 1960s, a historical event occurred at one of Europe's most prestigious universities: The Dutch- speaking students forced the French-speaking students to relocate and establish their own university. We compared the extent to which members of each social group developed elaborate memories of the events surrounding the conflict and whether they were associated with differences in rehearsal type (media, conversational, rumination) and initiating conditions (importance, political engagement, and negative/positive emotions). All participants were university students at the time of the conflict. We found that Dutch-speakers exhibited more elaborate memories compared to French-speakers and that importance was associated with elaborate memories only for the Dutch-speakers. However, positive emotions appear to be critical in the formation of elaborate memories across the social groups. We found no such associations for negative emotions. We discuss these results in terms of the social/cognitive pro- cesses transcending social group membership in understanding how individuals remember past conflicts. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

In the 1960s, a historical event occurred at one of Europe's most prestigious universities: The Dutch-speaking students forced the French-speaking students to relocate and establish their own university. We compared the extent to which members of each social group developed elaborate memories of the events surrounding the conflict and whether they were associated with differences in rehearsal type (media, conversational, rumination) and initiating conditions (importance, political engagement, and negative/positive emotions). All participants were university students at the time of the conflict. We found that Dutch-speakers exhibited more elaborate memories compared to French-speakers and that importance was associated with elaborate memories only for the Dutch-speakers. However, positive emotions appear to be critical in the formation of elaborate memories across the social groups. We found no such associations for negative emotions. We discuss these results in terms of the social/cognitive processes transcending social group membership in understanding how individuals remember past conflicts.

En este capítulo, que tratará por un lado de los aportes de la psicología social y, por otro, de los de la filosofía política, comenzaremos por delimitar el concepto de memo- ria colectiva y en particular su relación con la identidad social. Posteriormente, aisla- remos ciertos procesos a través de los cuales la memoria colectiva de los grupos impli- cados en un conflicto pasado es susceptible de enturbiar la reconciliación. Por último, abordaremos algunas vías de solución por medio de la trasmisión de la memoria tanto entre los grupos implicados como en el interior de cada uno de ellos. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Recent work on psychological entitativity has suggested that perceiving Europe as an homogeneous entity may increase identification with this group. We suggest that this effect might in fact be due to the positively valued political projects that these descriptions serve rather than to their intrinsic qualities. In line with this view, it was predicted that a positive relation between perception of similarity among European nations and European identification would be obtained only when similarity was presented as desirable for the accomplishment of the European integration project. Generally pro-European students in three Brussels secondary schools (N= 122) read a speech stressing the efficiency of a policy - increasing similarities vs. preserving differences between countries - in the successful development of the EU, or no text in the Control condition. They then reported their level of European identification and their perception of similarity among European nations. Results show that countries were judged as less similar in the "Difference desirable" condition than in the "Similarity desirable" or control conditions (no text), while European identification remained stable. Moreover, Perception of Similarity significantly predicted European Identification only when similarity had been presented as desirable. In the two other conditions - when no text was presented and when difference was presented as desirable there was no significant relation between these two variables. This study shows that perceiving an in-group as a homogeneous entity does not enhance identification unless it is considered as desirable for the in-group. In the case of the European Union, it suggests that perceiving heterogeneity among countries should not impede the development of a European identity.

Belgium has a long-standing history of conflicts between Flemings and French- speakers. We posit that the content of the collective memories associated with each group are organized around two objective dimensions: 1) linguistic policy and 2) financial and political autonomy. A model is proposed which predicts that different justice principles will be applied by each community regarding the distribution of specific resources depending upon which dimension of the conflict is salient and their group membership. Respect or violation of these principles predicts stereotype content. Collective memories can be used to justify the in- group's justice principles and to present such stereotypes as anchored in the past. We conclude by drawing general implications of the model for the study of the role collective memories play in intergroup conflicts. ; SCOPUS: ar.j ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Belgium has a long-standing history of conflicts between Flemings and French speakers. We posit that the content of the collective memories associated with each group are organized around two objective dimensions: (1) linguistic policy and (2) financial and political autonomy. A model is proposed that predicts that different justice principles will be applied by each community regarding the distribution of specific resources depending upon which dimension of the conflict is salient and their group membership. Respect or violation of these principles predicts stereotype content. Collective memories can be used to justify the in-group's justice principles and to present such stereotypes as anchored in the past. We conclude by drawing general implications of the model for the study of the role collective memories play in intergroup conflicts.

Belgium has a long-standing history of conflicts between Flemings and French speakers. We posit that the content of the collective memories associated with each group are organized around two objective dimensions: (1) linguistic policy and (2) financial and political autonomy. A model is proposed that predicts that different justice principles will be applied by each community regarding the distribution of specific resources depending upon which dimension of the conflict is salient and their group membership. Respect or violation of these principles predicts stereotype content. Collective memories can be used to justify the in-group's justice principles and to present such stereotypes as anchored in the past. We conclude by drawing general implications of the model for the study of the role collective memories play in intergroup conflicts.

Successful reconciliation between groups following a violent conflict requires psychological change. We test a model predicting intergroup attitudes towards Muslims in Lebanon among Maronite (Christian) Lebanese youths. Identification with both their religious subgroup and with the superordinate national group predicted attitudes towards Muslims, in opposite directions. These effects of levels of identification on intergroup attitudes were mediated by attributions of responsibility for the war (Muslim responsibility) and perception that the current generation of out-group members is different from the war generation (perceived out-group discontinuity). Identification with Lebanon fosters positive attitudes towards Muslims by lowering Muslim responsibility for the war, and by increasing perceptions of foreign responsibility and perceived out-group discontinuity. In contrast, increased identification with their own religious subgroup undermines attitude change by increasing Muslim responsibility for the war and lessening perception of out-group discontinuity. Representations of the past have implications for attitudes towards former enemies and reconciliation in the present.

The present study examines current social representations associated with the origins of the Great War, a major event that has profoundly affected Europe. A survey conducted in 20 European countries (N = 1906 students in social sciences) shows a high consensus: The outbreak of the war is attributed to the warring nations' leaders while the responsibility of the populations is minimized. Building on the concept of social representation of history (Liu & Hilton, 2005), we suggest that the social representations of the Great War fulfill social psychological functions in contemporary Europe. We suggest that WWI may function as a charter for European integration. Their content also suggests a desire to distinguish a positively valued ingroup ("the people") from powerful elites, construed as an outgroup.

Although social scientists have examined how political speeches may help forge and/or shape collective memories, they have done so with little to no input from psychologists. We address this deficit, demonstrating how a modified version of a well-established and empirically derived psychological phenomenon—socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting—helps explain the mnemonic consequences associated with political speeches, in this case, the Belgian King's 2012 summer speech. To this end, we analyzed the responses of 43 French speakers and 49 Dutch speakers. Of these individuals, 35 attended to the speech (16 French speakers; 19 Dutch speakers). Our results suggest that the Belgian King's speech induced French-speaking Belgians who attended the speech to recall less information related to what the King mentioned in the speech. We found no such deficit for Dutch-speaking Belgians. Rather, the Dutch-speaking Belgians exhibited a trend toward greater recall of related and unrelated information when attending relative to not attending to the speach. These results bolster the importance of including a psychological approach in the study of collective memories and the moderating role of social identity. ; SCOPUS: ar.j ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Although social scientists have examined how political speeches may help forge and/or shape collective memories, they have done so with little to no input from psychologists. We address this deficit, demonstrating how a modified version of a well-established and empirically derived psychological phenomenon – socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting – helps explain the mnemonic consequences associated with political speeches, in this case, the Belgian King's 2012 summer speech. To this end, we analyzed the responses of 43 French-speakers and 49 Dutch-speakers. Of these individuals 35 of them attended to the speech (16 French-speakers; 19 Dutch-speakers). Our results suggest that the Belgian King's speech induced French-speaking Belgians who attended the speech to recall less information related to what the King mentioned in the speech. We found no such deficit for Dutch-speaking Belgians. Rather, the Dutch-speaking Belgians exhibited greater recall of related and unrelated information. These results bolster the importance of including a psychological approach in the study of collective memories and the moderating role of social identity. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/published