Collective victim beliefs in the aftermath of historical trauma and their effects on psychological well-being: Initial findings among the Polish diaspora in the United States

Abstract

Historical trauma impacts the affected groups long after traumatic events. In response to such experiences, people may make sense of this history through collective victimisation beliefs that compare their ingroup's experiences to outgroups' experiences. Additionally, they may perceive these collective experiences as central to their self and group identity, or distance themselves from them. However, it is not yet well understood how distinct beliefs about historical trauma are linked to psychological well-being. The present study examined this question among the Polish diaspora in the United States (N = 280). Mediation analyses showed a negative indirect effect of exclusive victim beliefs and centrality of collective victimisation on psychological well-being, while inclusive victim beliefs and decentring collective victimisation had positive indirect effects on psychological well-being. Structural equation modelling examining all collective victim beliefs simultaneously highlighted historical victimisation as identity content (a subscale of centrality of collective victimisation) as a particularly important predictor of psychological well-being, through historical trauma emotions. Overall, in line with appraisal theory, these findings suggest that how a group's historical victimisation is construed is linked to emotional processes and can predict psychological well-being. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.