Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-rj9fg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-20T10:29:17.177Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Myths of trauma and myths of cooperation: Diverse consequences of history for societal cohesion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2025

Michał Bilewicz Open the ORCID record for Michał Bilewicz [Opens in a new window]  and
Aleksandra Bilewicz Open the ORCID record for Aleksandra Bilewicz [Opens in a new window]
Michał Bilewicz*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland [email protected] http://cbu.psychologia.pl/zespol/dr-hab-michal-bilewicz/
Aleksandra Bilewicz
Affiliation:
Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development, Warsaw, Poland [email protected] https://www.irwirpan.waw.pl/index.php/offer/show/12/zespol/pracownicy/2/zespol/pracownicy/2/wpis/75/zespol/pracownicy/2/zespol/pracownicy/2/wpis/75
*
*Corresponding author.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We propose that historical myths fall into two distinctive categories: Traumatic and cooperative. Traumatic myths, highlighting collective suffering, can undermine trust and foster conspiracy theories, whereas cooperative myths, emphasizing collective action, enhance group cohesion and within-group coalition building. Psychological and sociological evidence supports these divergent impacts of historical myths both in nations and social movements.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 47 , 2024 , e174
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Atete, P. J., & Bilewicz, M. (2023). The effects of moral exemplars awareness on common ingroup identification and reconciliation in post-genocide Rwanda. Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 41(1), 37–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bilewicz, M. (2022). Conspiracy beliefs as an adaptation to historical trauma. Current Opinion in Psychology, 47, 101359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bilewicz, M., & Imhoff, R. (2022). Political conspiracy beliefs and their alignment on the left-right political spectrum. Social Research: An International Quarterly, 89(3), 679–706.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bilewicz, M., & Liu, J. (2020). Collective victimhood as a form of adaptation: A worldsystem perspective. In Ray Vollhardt, J. (Ed.), The social psychology of collective victimhood (pp. 120–140). Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bilewicz, M., Witkowska, M., Pantazi, M., Gkinopoulos, T., & Klein, O. (2019). Traumatic rift: How conspiracy beliefs undermine cohesion after societal trauma? Europe's Journal of Psychology, 15(1), 82–93.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Čehajić-Clancy, S., & Bilewicz, M. (2020). Appealing to moral exemplars: Shared perception of morality as an essential ingredient of intergroup reconciliation. Social Issues and Policy Review, 14(1), 217–243.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Čehajić-Clancy, S., & Bilewicz, M. (2021). Moral-exemplar intervention: A new paradigm for conflict resolution and intergroup reconciliation. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 30(4), 335–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairbairn, B. (1994). The meaning of Rochdale: The Rochdale Pioneers and the cooperative principles. Occasional Paper Series, Center for the Study of Cooperatives, University of Saaskatchewan.Google Scholar
Freel, S. H., & Bilali, R. (2022). Putting the past into action: How historical narratives shape participation in collective action. European Journal of Social Psychology, 52(1), 204–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haska, A. (2011). Discourse of treason in occupied Poland. East European Politics and Societies, 25(03), 530–552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hilson, M. (2017). Rochdale and beyond: Consumer cooperatives in Britain before 1945. In Hilson, M., Neunsinger, S. & Patmore, G. (Eds.), A global history of consumer cooperation since 1850 (pp. 59–77). Brill.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kofta, M., Soral, W., & Bilewicz, M. (2020). What breeds conspiracy antisemitism? The role of political uncontrollability and uncertainty in the belief in Jewish conspiracy. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118(5), 900–918.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liu, J. H., & Hilton, D. J. (2005). How the past weighs on the present: Social representations of history and their role in identity politics. British Journal of Social Psychology, 44(4), 537–556.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pantazi, M., Gkinopoulos, T., Witkowska, M., Klein, O., & Bilewicz, M. (2022). “Historia est magistra vitae”? The impact of historical victimhood on current conspiracy beliefs. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 25(2), 581–601.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skrodzka, M., Kende, A., Faragó, L., & Bilewicz, M. (2022). “Remember that we suffered!” The effects of historical trauma on anti-Semitic prejudice. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 52(5), 341–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skrodzka, M., Stefaniak, A., & Bilewicz, M. (2023). Group identification moderates the effect of historical trauma availability on historical trauma symptoms and conspiracy beliefs. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 33(4), 835–850.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Totomianz, V. (2020). Mistycyzm spółdzielczości [Mysticism of cooperatives]. In Błesznowski, B. & Bilewicz, A. (Eds.), Socjologia stosowana. Tradycje naukowe polskiego kooperatyzmu XX wieku [Applied sociology. Scholarly traditions of Polish cooperativism in 20th century] (pp. 45–52). Oficyna Naukowa.Google Scholar