TY - JOUR
T1 - Reconciliation in human adults
T2 - A video-assisted naturalistic observational study of post conflict conciliatory behaviour in interpersonal aggression
AU - Philpot, Richard
AU - Liebst, Lasse Suonperä
AU - Lindegaard, Marie Rosenkrantz
AU - Verbeek, Peter
AU - Levine, Mark
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Reconciliation is an aspect of conflict resolution, with similar behavioural patterns documented in non-human primates, human children, and human adults of non-Western, non-industrialized cultures. Reconciliation amongst adults of industrialized societies has rarely been studied. We observed naturally occurring conflicts between adults, captured by public security cameras in England. Reconciliation was found in one-quarter of all conflicts and was more prevalent in milder conflicts. Reconciliation typically occurred spontaneously between opponents — and was found within friendship groups and across stranger groups. Reconciliation between opponents also appeared to be stimulated by peers, law enforcement, or shared objects. In some instances, reconciliation extended beyond the initial conflict dyad toward victimized third-party peacemakers. These findings add to growing cross-cultural and cross-species evidence demonstrating the presence and function of post-conflict reconciliation. We extend the repertoire of reconciliatory behaviour and introduce five common features of reconciliation that are central to the study of adult peacemaking.
AB - Reconciliation is an aspect of conflict resolution, with similar behavioural patterns documented in non-human primates, human children, and human adults of non-Western, non-industrialized cultures. Reconciliation amongst adults of industrialized societies has rarely been studied. We observed naturally occurring conflicts between adults, captured by public security cameras in England. Reconciliation was found in one-quarter of all conflicts and was more prevalent in milder conflicts. Reconciliation typically occurred spontaneously between opponents — and was found within friendship groups and across stranger groups. Reconciliation between opponents also appeared to be stimulated by peers, law enforcement, or shared objects. In some instances, reconciliation extended beyond the initial conflict dyad toward victimized third-party peacemakers. These findings add to growing cross-cultural and cross-species evidence demonstrating the presence and function of post-conflict reconciliation. We extend the repertoire of reconciliatory behaviour and introduce five common features of reconciliation that are central to the study of adult peacemaking.
KW - Faculty of Social Sciences
KW - reconciliation
KW - conflict resolution
KW - peacemaking
KW - human adults
KW - video observation
U2 - 10.1163/1568539X-bja10176
DO - 10.1163/1568539X-bja10176
M3 - Journal article
VL - 159
SP - 1225
EP - 1261
JO - Behaviour
JF - Behaviour
SN - 0005-7959
ER -