After intergroup conflicts end, beliefs about past suffering of the ingroup compared to an outgroup influence relations between former adversaries. In Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina, we simultaneously examined the effects of inclusive victimhood (i.e., a belief that both the ingroup and a former adversary suffered similarly) and competitive victimhood (i.e., a belief that the ingroup suffered more than a former adversary) on willingness to engage in contact with a former adversary, a precursor of positive changes in postconflict societies. In one correlational (n_Albanians = 159; n_Croats = 227) and two experimental studies (N_Albanians = 161; N_Croats = 341, preregistered), inclusive victimhood was linked to higher willingness to engage in contact with former adversaries through higher empathy (Studies 1 to 3) and trust (Studies 1 and 2). In contrast, competitive victimhood was associated with lower willingness to engage in contact through lower empathy (Study 1) and trust (Studies 1 and 3). We discuss the practical implications of our findings for interventions in postconflict societies.

群体间冲突结束后，与外群体相比，内群体过去遭受的痛苦的信念会影响前对手之间的关系。在科索沃和波斯尼亚和黑塞哥维那，我们同时研究了包容性受害（即相信内群体和前对手都遭受同样的痛苦）和竞争受害（即相信内群体比前对手遭受的痛苦更多）对与前对手接触的意愿，这是冲突后社会发生积极变化的先兆。在一项相关研究（n_{阿尔巴尼亚人}= 159；n_{克罗地亚人 = 227）和}两项实验研究（N_{阿尔巴尼亚人}= 161；N_{克罗地亚人}= 341，预注册），包容性受害与通过更高的同理心（研究 1 至 3）和信任（研究 1 和 2）与前对手接触的意愿更高有关。相比之下，竞争性受害与通过较低的同理心（研究 1）和信任（研究 1 和 3）进行接触的意愿较低有关。我们讨论了我们的研究结果对冲突后社会干预的实际意义。