German victimhood memories: The role of (motivated) memory bias and transmission.

德国总理默克尔在2019年访问前奥斯维辛集中营时强调，德国对当时的行为负有不可分割的责任。她说，对历史罪行的认识是德国民族认同的一个组成部分。尽管德国纳粹的罪行在社会政治话语中清晰可见，但三十年来在德国进行的实证研究一再指出，德国人越来越多地认为自己是国家社会主义的受害者。这种德国受害者形象的增加可见性——与公开主导的犯罪者叙事形成对比——可以归因于记忆的差异以及关于犯罪和受害者信息的人际传播的差异。然而，在德国，很少有研究对受害者的认知进行实证检验，从而系统地调查记忆和移情过程的作用。目前的项目旨在填补这一空白。在第一个系列的实验研究中，将使用信号检测理论来检验与自己群体的犯罪行为和另一个群体的受害者行为相比，自己群体的受害者行为是否表现出情感偏见。在第二个系列的研究中，将使用连续复制的范式来检查关于历史事件的叙述是否在内容和语言上有所不同，这取决于自己的群体是属于受害者还是肇事者。项目的最后一部分涉及激励过程。基于需求模型，我们考察了前两部分的记忆和传递偏差是否可以通过实验满足道德恢复的需要而被中断。因此，当前的项目旨在揭示以前未被充分探索的过程，这些过程可能是历史犯罪者群体中感知到的集体受害者的基础。

During her visit to the former concentration camp Auschwitz in 2019, Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized that responsibility for the deeds of that time belongs inseparably to Germany. Awareness of historical perpetration is an integral part of national identity in Germany, she said. Despite the clear visibility of German Nazi perpetration in sociopolitical discourse, empirical studies in Germany for three decades have repeatedly pointed to an increased perception of Germans as victims of National Socialism. This increased visibility of German victimhood -which contrasts with the publicly dominant perpetrator narrative- could be attributed to both differences in memory and differences in the interpersonal transmission of information about perpetration and victimhood. However, there has been little research that empirically examined victim perceptions in Germany, thereby systematically investigating the role of memory and transference processes. The present project aims to fill this gap. In the first series of experimental studies, signal detection theory will be used to examine whether the victimhood of one's own group is represented emotionally biased in comparison to the perpetration of one's own group and victimhood of another group. In the second series of studies, the paradigm of serial reproduction will be used to examine whether narratives about historical events differ in content and language depending on whether one's own group belongs to the victims or perpetrators. The final part of the project addresses motivational processes. Based on the Needs-Based Model, we examine whether the memory and transmission biases examined in the first two parts can be interrupted by experimentally fulfilling the need for moral restoration. Thus, the current project aims to shed light on the previously underexplored processes that may underlie perceived collective victimhood in historical perpetrator groups.