An individual-group belief framework: Predicting life satisfaction, group identification, and support for the “war on terror”.

A sample of U.S. citizens (N 281) completed the Individual–Group Belief Inventory approximately 6 months after the 9=11 terrorist attacks. The survey measured beliefs about vulnerability, injustice, distrust, superiority, and help-lessness in three interrelated spheres: personal beliefs about their American ingroup, personal perceptions of the ingroup’s collective worldviews, and per-sonal beliefs about their personal worlds. As predicted, individual differences in the strength of these beliefs were related to satisfaction with current circum-stances, strength of group identification, and support for the post-9=11 ‘‘war on terror.’ ’ Personal beliefs about the ingroup tended to be most strongly cor-related with the criterion measures, but the three belief spheres together offered greater explanatory power than any single sphere alone. The power of beliefs to influence perception and behavior has long been recognized, not only in the realm of individual psychology but also in rela-tion to groups large and small. Indeed, beyond the realistic conflict elements of competition over resources and territory, large-scale intergroup hostilities are often driven, in part, by deeply held partisan convictions. For instance, Kelman (1997, 1999) has long emphasized the influence of collective needs and fears regarding identity, security, and justice in driving conflicts between national or ethnic groups; Staub (1989) has argued that conflict-engendering miscalculations become more likely when reliance on