Reconciliation in human adults: A video-assisted naturalistic observational study of post conflict conciliatory behaviour in interpersonal aggression

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Documents

  • Full Text

    Accepted author manuscript, 626 KB, PDF document

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.
Original languageEnglish
JournalBehaviour
Volume159
Pages (from-to)1225-1261
ISSN0005-7959
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Links

ID: 315489830