The narratives that divide us and bring us together: Neural and behavioral synchrony amongst members of historical victim and perpetrator groups

神经科学的“第二人称”方法专注于研究社会互动中的神经和行为同步。应用这种方法的研究表明，这种同步对于相互同情和合作至关重要，但它可能会受到人们在理解客观现实时使用的主观过滤器和叙述的调节。拟议的研究将这些见解的背景下，群体间的和解。使用基于需求的和解模型的成熟理论框架，并专注于德国-犹太关系，我们的目标是阐明历史肇事者和受害者群体成员的神经活动如何在与历史违法行为相关的自然主义刺激下发生分歧（研究1），以及身份-以前发现，通过解决一个群体叙述的具体方面，肯定干预可以增加和解倾向，神经（研究1）以及行为和生理（研究2）跨组线同步。在研究1中，德国和犹太参与者将在MRI扫描仪内观看纪录片，以检查（a）他们的大脑活动是否以及如何在对大屠杀相关事件的反应中产生分歧。（与中性）剪辑，但（B）在身份确认干预后，（相对于非肯定）群体成员可能会表达更大的和解意愿和对外群体叙述的开放性，和©显示了大脑活动的同步性增加。研究2将检查行为和生理同步（例如，在面部表情和心率变异性方面）之间的肯定（与非肯定）的德国和犹太参与者在现实生活中的二元互动（通过缩放）。这些研究将开创性地研究神经，生理和行为同步在群体间和解过程中的作用。

The 'second-person' approach to neuroscience focuses on studying neural and behavioral synchrony in social interactions. Research applying this approach has revealed that such synchrony is crucial for mutual empathy and cooperation, yet it might be modulated by the subjective filters and narratives that people use when making sense of the objective reality. The proposed research will apply these insights to the context of intergroup reconciliation. Using the well-established theoretical framework of the needs-based model of reconciliation and focusing on German-Jewish relations, we aim to shed light on how the neural activity of members of historical perpetrator and victim groups diverges in response to naturalistic stimuli related to the historic transgression (Study 1), and whether identity-affirmation interventions previously found to increase conciliatory inclinations by addressing specific aspects of a group’s narrative can increase neural (Study 1) as well as behavioral and physiological (Study 2) synchrony across group lines. In Study 1, German and Jewish participants will watch documentaries inside an MRI scanner, to examine whether and how (a) their brain activity might diverge in response to holocaust-related (vs. Neutral) clips, yet (b) following identity-affirmation interventions, affirmed (vs. Non-affirmed) group members might express greater willingness for reconciliation and openness to the outgroup’s narrative, and © show increased synchronization in brain activity. Study 2 will examine the behavioral and physiological synchrony (e.g., in terms of facial expression and heart rate variability) between affirmed (vs. Non-affirmed) German and Jewish participants engaging in real-life dyadic interactions (via Zoom). These studies will be pioneering in examining the role of neural, physiological and behavioral synchrony in intergroup reconciliation processes.