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Implementing Social-Psychological Interventions in the Field: Insights From the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

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Researching Peace, Conflict, and Power in the Field

Part of the book series: Peace Psychology Book Series ((PPBS))

Abstract

Despite the rapidly growing number of scholars actively studying conflict resolution, collaborations between academics and practitioners are scarce, with social psychology playing little to no role in the design of new field-based programs. In this chapter, we draw on our experiences from the Israeli-Palestinian context and suggest that one core reason for this disconnect is the laboratory nature of the majority of social psychological research. We outline the challenges to implementing interventions that were developed and tested solely in the laboratory, focusing on the limited samples that are available for laboratory research, the lack of focus on contextual factors, and the challenges in upscaling laboratory manipulations into field interventions. We then propose two steps that may be taken simultaneously to bridge this gap: (1) engaging with practitioners regularly and (2) increasing the visibility and accessibility of social psychological knowledge. Finally, we conclude with some remarks about the caution that is called for when distributing social psychological knowledge.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Princeton University, Princeton, USA

    Roni Porat

  2. Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Herzliya, Israel

    Tamar Saguy

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  1. Roni Porat
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  2. Tamar Saguy
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Correspondence to Roni Porat .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Dundee, Dundee, UK

    Yasemin Gülsüm Acar

  2. University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Sigrun Marie Moss

  3. Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA

    Özden Melis Uluğ

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Porat, R., Saguy, T. (2020). Implementing Social-Psychological Interventions in the Field: Insights From the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. In: Acar, Y.G., Moss, S.M., Uluğ, Ö.M. (eds) Researching Peace, Conflict, and Power in the Field. Peace Psychology Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44113-5_12

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