Collective Memory as Identity Content After Ethnic Conflict: An Exploratory Study

In line with recent theorizing on identity content and intergroup attitudes, it is argued that collective memory (shared understandings of group history as narratives of the past) forms part of the narrative content of group identities and inform group members' attitudes toward outgroups. Survey data from 82 Bosnian Muslim immigrants and refugees resettled in the United States showed that endorsement of narratives of the past that emphasize prewar coexistence of groups interacted with ethnic identification to predict attitudes toward Bosnian Croats, but not toward Bosnian Serbs. Even though ethnic identification was a strong negative predictor of attitudes toward Croats, its effect was significantly reduced among participants who endorsed a narrative of past coexistence. Attitudes toward Bosnian Serbs, however, were uniformly low and only predicted by attitudes toward the other outgroup, Bosnian Croats. Implications for studies of intergroup relations and reconciliation efforts were discussed.