Haidar Thontowi Phd Thesis

The Impact of Counter-narratives on Inclusive Identity and Reconciliation Support in the Context of Anti-Communist Sentiment in Indonesia Haidar Buldan Thontowi This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the University of St Andrews September 2019 Candidate's declaration I, Haidar Buldan Thontowi, do hereby certify that this thesis, submitted for the degree of PhD, which is approximately 51,816 words in length, has been written by me, and that it is the record of work carried out by me, or principally by myself in collaboration with others as acknowledged, and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for any degree. I was admitted as a research student at the University of St Andrews in September 2015. I received funding from an organisation or institution and have acknowledged the funder(s) in the full text of my thesis. 12 November 2020 Signature of candidate Supervisor's declaration I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of PhD in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. 12 November 2020 Signature of supervisor Permission for publication In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews we understand that we are giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. We also understand, unless exempt by an award of an embargo as requested below, that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that this thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use and that the library has the right to migrate this thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. ii I, Haidar Buldan Thontowi, confirm that my thesis does not contain any third-party material that requires copyright clearance. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the publication of this thesis: Printed copy No embargo on print copy. Electronic copy No embargo on electronic copy. 12 November 2020 Signature of candidate 12 November 2020 Signature of supervisor iii Underpinning Research Data or Digital Outputs Candidate's declaration I, Haidar Buldan Thontowi, hereby certify that no requirements to deposit original research data or digital outputs apply to this thesis and that, where appropriate, secondary data used have been referenced in the full text of my thesis. 12 November 2020 Signature of candidate iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Writing a thesis has not only been an intellectual journey for me. Beyond acquisition of research skills during the course of my four year endeavour, these past four years has been a process of growing as an individual. This process has not been easy and I have at times struggled to balance the academic demands of the program while taking care of my family. It is the people that have accompanied me in this journey which I dedicate this section. These people are those who have generously spared their time to give advice on academic and family issues, provide assistance and motivation, and have repeatedly encouraged me through their kind gestures. I am greatly indebted to Nicole Tausch, my supervisor for her invaluable guidance in research and writing as well as her understanding of the struggle in juggling between family life and academia. My admiration for her work takes me back to my post-graduate education in New York when I first came across her papers on radical behaviour and intergroup emotions. Little did I know that I would be collaborating with her during the course of my PhD. I am deeply humbled by this experience and will surely be inspired by her work ethics as I continue to teach psychology in Indonesia. I must acknowledge the Indonesian Endowment for Education Fund for funding my PhD study and has made this journey possible. I also thank student services of St Andrews University for their generous assistance in childcare and other matters. Thank you Maggie, your passing saddens me, but I believe your kindness is etched upon the memories of those you have generously assisted. Thank you also Jocelyn also for providing support when I experienced financial troubles. I would also like to thank Universitas Gadjah Mada for providing additional financial support for the completion of my thesis. I would also like to thank my colleagues in the 5 Faculty of Psychology in Universitas Gadjah Mada who have provided moral support to complete my Thesis. More specifically I would like to acknowledge Prof Faturochman the Faculty of Psychology dean who gave me the opportunity to work in the faculty and supported my goals to pursue a doctoral degree. I would like to also acknowledge my Indonesian psychology mentor Prof Djamaluddin Ancok for his inspiration and mentoring when I became his assistant. I would like to offer many thanks to the people in the social psychology group who have shaped my thinking and also who were valuable social support: Charles Ogunbode, Meng Zhang “Logan”, Bashar Al Baghli, Jennie Portice, Meghan McNamara, Carolina Rocha Santa Marina. I would also like to thank some of the social psychology lecturers like Kenneth Mavor, Sam Pehrson, Steve Reicher, and Mike Oram. Friends in Lilac room have also been great company. Finally my family have been there for me from the start to finish. To my parents Kasiyah Adnan, and Jawahir Thontowi for their continuous support and love. My brothers Mujiburrahman and Aden Muflih Khaitami. My wife Cahya Wulandari for her endless love and companionship from the time we worked together in the Universitas Gadjah Mada until now. To my daughter Najwa Syafi Thontowi. You have been a real inspiration. Keeping me smiling when I am down and showing your love. 6 ABSTRACT Psychologists have argued that counter-narratives play an important role in reconciliation processes. However, limited experimental evidence exists to explain the conditions of when counter-narratives are most effective. This thesis attempts to fill this gap in the literature in the context of Indonesia’s past persecution of communists. Using insights from the political solidarity model (Subasic et al., 2008) and the theory of inclusive victimhood consciousness (Vollhardt, 2013) s a framework, I argue that co-victimization counter-narratives would be more effective in promoting reconciliation. In addition, I reason that a co-victimization counter- narrative would affect reconciliation by increasing participants’ sense of inclusive identity with ex-communists. Accordingly, I conducted four online experiments collecting data from a total of 1,620 Indonesian participants. In study 1, I found that the co-victimization counter-narrative was more effective in promoting reconciliation compared to the control group and that its effect on reconciliation was mediated by inclusive identity. In study 2, I identified political Islam as moderating the influence of the counter-narratives on inclusive identity such that the co- victimization counter-narrative was not effective among participants who highly endorsed political Islam. Study 3 attempted to use norms as a way to increase the strength of the counter- narrative. I found that, as expected, a group relevant norm manipulation showed no additive effect on co-victimization. However, through exploratory analysis, I also found that pairing the counter-narratives with the norm manipulations had significant effects depending on political Islam endorsement levels and perceived descriptive and injunctive norms. Study 4 explored the role of threat in affecting resistance to counter-narratives. The main finding was that manipulations of low threat allowed the counter-narrative to affect inclusive identity among participants who reported low endorsement of political Islam while manipulations of high threat 7 produced an effect of the counter-narrative on inclusive identity among participants who reported high endorsement of political Islam. Keywords: counter-narrative, reconciliation, inclusive identity, communists 8 TABLE OF CONTENT ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ 5 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... 7 TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................................................ 9 LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................................... 12 LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 1 ................................................................................................................................ 15 GENERAL INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 15 The social, economic, and psychological costs of conflict ...................................................... 16 The nature of reconciliation ..................................................................................................... 18 Factors facilitating reconciliation

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