Harnessing dehumanization theory, modern media, and an intervention tournament to reduce support for retributive war crimes

Abstract

We demonstrate how psychological scientists can curate rich-yet-accessible media to intervene on conflict-escalating attitudes during the earliest stages of violent conflicts. Although wartime atrocities all-too-often ignite destructive cycles of tit-for-tat war crimes, powerful third parties can de-escalate the bloodshed. Therefore, following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, we aimed to reduce Americans' support for committing retributive war crimes against Russian soldiers. To intervene during the earliest stages of the invasion, we drew on theories of dehumanization and “parasocial” intergroup contact to curate publicly available media expected to humanize Russian soldiers. We then identified the most effective materials by simultaneously evaluating all of them with an intervention tournament. This allowed us to quickly implement a psychological intervention that reliably reduced support for war crimes during the first days of a momentous land war. Our work provides a practical, result-driven model for developing psychological interventions with the potential to de-escalate incipient conflicts.