Downside of Intergroup Harmony? When Reconciliation Might Backfire and What to Do

For decades, reconciliation efforts have relied on models of cooperative and positive interactions between members of groups in conflict. Such interactions do improve attitudes and emotions across group lines—outcomes considered pivotal for promoting more harmonious, less conflictual, relations between groups. More recently, research has begun to reveal “a darker side” of such positive interactions: Harmony between groups might sustain existing power structures and, in the long run, even exacerbate, rather than attenuate, intergroup conflict. This work offers recommendations for how to overcome the barriers associated with intergroup harmony. Policy should consider power-related processes when attempting to optimally design reconciliation interventions