Collective memories of trauma can have profound impact on the affected individuals and communities. In the context of intergroup conflict, in the present article, we propose a novel theoretical framework to understand the long-term impact of historical trauma on contemporary intergroup relations from both victim and perpetrator perspectives. Integrating past research on intergroup conflict and the biopsychosocial model of threat and challenge, we argue that people appraise their group’s past victimization and perpetration differently, either as a threat or as a challenge. Shaped by contextual factors and individual differences, these differential appraisals will subsequently influence how group members respond to contemporary intergroup conflict, with both adaptive and maladaptive consequences. This model contributes to unifying the previous research that has shown diverse effects of historical trauma on present-day intergroup dynamics. We present preliminary empirical evidence in support of the framework and discuss its theoretical and practical implications.

创伤的集体记忆会对受影响的个人和社区产生深远的影响。在群际冲突的背景下，在本文中，我们提出了一个新颖的理论框架，以从受害者和肇事者的角度理解历史创伤对当代群际关系的长期影响。结合过去关于群体间冲突的研究以及威胁和挑战的生物心理社会模型，我们认为人们以不同的方式评价他们群体过去的受害和犯罪，无论是作为威胁还是作为挑战。受背景因素和个体差异的影响，这些差异评估随后会影响群体成员对当代群体间冲突的反应，并产生适应性和适应不良的后果。该模型有助于统一先前的研究，这些研究表明历史创伤对当今群体间动态的不同影响。我们提供了支持该框架的初步经验证据，并讨论了其理论和实践意义。