Skip to main content

Reducing Israeli-Jewish Pupils’ Outgroup Prejudice with a Mindfulness and Compassion-Based Social-Emotional Program

Mindfulness volume 9, pages 1768–1779 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of a newly developed mindfulness and compassion-based social-emotional intervention, Call to Care-Israel (C2C-I), in reducing prejudiced attitudes of Israeli-Jewish youth toward the Israeli-Palestinian outgroup. The C2C-I combines social-cognitive and social-emotional driven mindfulness and compassion practice into one program to create a community of care and cultivate compassion toward the self and others. Three hundred twenty-four Israeli-Jewish 3rd–5th graders (ngirls = 137) from three elementary schools in central Israel were assigned by partial randomization to the C2C-I intervention (nC2CI = 175) or a wait-list control group. Outgroup prejudice was assessed by three measures—stereotyping, affective prejudice, and readiness for social contact—at pre- and post-intervention, as well as at a 6-month follow-up. Results showed that, compared to control group participants, those in the C2C-I intervention significantly reduced affective prejudice toward and negative stereotyping about the Israeli-Palestinian outgroup, while simultaneously increasing their readiness to engage in social contact with Israeli-Palestinian youth. Importantly, the significant effects found in the C2C-I group were maintained at the 6-month follow-up—a period that involved a violent escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—while further deterioration in intergroup attitudes emerged for the control group. High effect sizes for group differences in all prejudice measures emerged, further highlighting the robust impact of the C2C-I program. These results have significant implications for implementing C2C-I mindfulness and compassion-based practices in order to promote positive intergroup relations in areas characterized by ethnic tension and violent conflict.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

References

  • Aboud, F. E. (2008). A social-cognitive developmental theory of prejudice. In S. M. Quintana & C. McKown (Eds.), Handbook of race, racism, and the developing child (pp. 55–71). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Abrams, D. (2011). Wherein lies children’s intergroup bias? Egocentrism, social understanding and social projection. Child Development, 82, 1579–1593. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01617.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Allport, G. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Reading: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bar-Tal, D., & Teichman, Y. (2005). Stereotypes and prejudice in conflict: representations of Arabs in Israeli Jewish society. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Beaumont, P. (2015). Is a third Palestinian intifada on the way—or has it already begun? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/05/third-palestinian-intifada-on-way-or-already-begun

  • Beelmann, A., & Heinemann, K. S. (2014). Preventing prejudice and improving intergroup attitudes: a meta-analysis of child and adolescent training programs. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 35, 10–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2014.06.005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, R. (2014). The ERASE-STRESS (ES) programmes: teacher-delivered universal school-based programmes in the aftermath of disasters. In D. Mitchell & V. Karr (Eds.), Crises, conflict and disability: ensuring equality (pp. 96–104). New York: Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, R., Abu-Raiya, H., & Gelkopf, M. (2015). The art of living together: reducing stereotyping and prejudicial attitudes through the Arab-Jewish class exchange program (CEP). Journal of Educational Psychology, 107, 678–688. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, R., Benatov, J., Abu-Raiya, H., & Tadmor, C. T. (2016a). Reducing prejudice and promoting positive intergroup attitudes among elementary-school children in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Journal of School Psychology, 57, 53–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2016.04.003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Berger, R., Gelkopf, M., Heineberg, Y., & Zimbardo, P. (2016b). A school-based intervention for reducing posttraumatic symptomatology and intolerance during political violence. Journal of Educational Psychology, 108, 761–771. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000066.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bigler, R. S., & Liben, L. S. (2007). Developmental intergroup theory: explaining and reducing children’s social stereotyping and prejudice. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 162–166. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2007.00496.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, S. R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Anderson, N. D., Carmody, J., Sefal, Z. V., Abbey, S., Speca, M., Velting, D., & Devins, G. (2004). Mindfulness: a proposed operational definition. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11, 230–241. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bph077.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brach, T. (2004). Radical acceptance: embracing your life with the heart of a Buddha. New York: Bantam Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brenick, A., & Killen, M. (2014). Moral judgments about Jewish-Arab intergroup exclusion: the role of culture and contact. Developmental Psychology, 50, 86–99. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034702.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brenick, A., & Romano, K. (2016). Perceived peer and parent outgroup norms, cultural identity, and adolescents’ reasoning about peer intergroup exclusion. Child Development, 87, 1392–1408. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12594.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brenick, A., Lee-Kim, J., Killen, M., Fox, N. A., Raviv, A., & Leavitt, L. A. (2007). Social judgments in Israeli and Arab children: Findings from media-based intervention projects. In D. Lemish & M. Götz (Eds.), Children and media at times of conflict and war (pp. 287–308). Cresskill: Hampton Press.

  • Brenick, A., Killen, M., Lee-Kim, J., Fox, N., Leavitt, L., Raviv, A., et al. (2010). Social understanding in young Israeli-Jewish, Israeli-Palestinian, Palestinian, and Jordanian children: moral judgments and stereotypes. Early Education and Development, 21, 886–911.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, R. (2010). Prejudice: its social psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 822–848. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.84.4.822.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Christ, O., & Wagner, U. (2013). Methodological issues in the study of intergroup contact: towards a new wave of research. In G. Hodson & M. Hewstone (Eds.), Advances in intergroup contact (pp. 262–305). New York: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Condon, P., Desbordes, G., Miller, W. B., & DeSteno, D. (2013). Meditation increases compassionate responses to suffering. Psychological Science, 24, 2125–2127. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613485603.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dalai Lama, T. G., & Ekman, P. (2008). Emotional awareness: overcoming the obstacles to psychological balance and compassion: a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman. New York: Times Books/Henry Holt and Co..

    Google Scholar 

  • Dodson-Lavelle, B., Berger, R., Makransky, J., & Siegle, P. (2014). Call to Care: educators’ professional development guide, (1st edition), Amherst: Mind and Life Institute.

  • Flook, L., Goldberg, S. B., Pinger, L., & Davidson, R. J. (2015). Promoting prosocial behavior and self-regulatory skills in preschool children through a mindfulness-based kindness curriculum. Developmental Psychology, 51, 44–51. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0038256.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218–226. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.218.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gilbert, P. (2010). An introduction to compassion focused therapy in cognitive behavior therapy. International Journal of Cognitive Therapy, 3(2), 97–112. https://doi.org/10.1521/ijct.2010.3.2.97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hutcherson, C. A., Seppala, E. M., & Gross, J. J. (2008). Loving-kindness meditation increases social connectedness. Emotion, 8, 720–724. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0013237.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Inzlicht, M., Tullett, A. M., Legault, L., & Kang, S. K. (2011). Lingering effects: stereotype threat hurts more than you think. Social Issues And Policy Review, 5(1), 227–256. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-2409.2011.01031.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kabat-Zinn, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in context: past, present, and future. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10(2), 144–156. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy/bpg016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaminsky, M., & Bar-Tal, D. (1996). Stereotypic perceptions of different Israeli-Arab labels as a function of age and religiosity. Studies in Education, 1, 121–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kang, Y., Gray, J. R., & Dovidio, J. F. (2014). The nondiscriminating heart: lovingkindness meditation training decreases implicit intergroup bias. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 143(3), 1306–1313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Killen, M., & Rutland, A. (2011). Children and social exclusion: morality, prejudice, and group identity. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444396317.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lavelle Heineberg, B. D. (2016). Promoting caring: mindfulness- and compassion-based contemplative training for educators and students. In K. A. Schonert-Reichl & R. W. Roeser (Eds.), Handbook of mindfulness in education: integrating theory and research into practice (pp. 285–294). New York: Springer-Verlag Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3506-2_18.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lemmer, G., & Wagner, U. (2015). Can we really reduce ethnic prejudice outside the lab? A meta-analysis of direct and indirect contact interventions. European Journal of Social Psychology, 45(2), 152–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lim, D., Condon, P., & Desteno, D. (2015). Mindfulness and compassion: an examination of mechanism and scalability. PLoS One, 10(2), e0118221. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0118221.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Lueke, A., & Gibson, B. (2015). Mindfulness meditation reduces implicit age and race bias: the role of reduced automaticity of responding. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6(3), 284–291. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550614559651.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lueke, A., & Gibson, B. (2016). Brief mindfulness meditation reduces discrimination. Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, And Practice, 3(1), 34–44. https://doi.org/10.1037/cns0000081.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Makransky, J. (2007). Awakening through love: a Buddhist guide for unveiling deepest goodness. Boston: Wisdom Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maoz, I. (2011). Contact in protracted asymmetrical conflict: twenty years of planned encounters between Israeli Jews and Palestinians. Journal of Peace Research, 48(1), 115–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, D. W. (2009). Feeling good and open-minded: the impact of positive affect on cross cultural empathic responding. Journal Of Positive Psychology, 4(1), 53–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760802357859.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parks, S., Birtel, M. D., & Crisp, R. J. (2014). Evidence that a brief meditation exercise can reduce prejudice toward homeless people. Social Psychology, 45(6), 458–465. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pettigrew, T., & Tropp, L. (2008). How does intergroup contact reduce prejudice? Meta-analytic tests of three mediators. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38(6), 922–934. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raabe, T., & Beelmann, A. (2011). Development of ethnic, racial, and national prejudice in childhood and adolescence: a multinational meta-analysis of age differences. Child Development, 82(6), 1715–1737. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01668.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ramsey, A. T., & Jones, E. E. (2015). Minding the interpersonal gap: mindfulness-based interventions in the prevention of ostracism. Consciousness and Cognition: An International Journal, 31, 24–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2014.10.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rutland, A., & Killen, M. (2015). A developmental science approach to reducing prejudice and social exclusion: intergroup processes, social-cognitive development, and moral reasoning. Social Issues and Policy Review, 9(1), 121–154. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12012.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Safran, J. D., & Segal, Z. V. (1990). Interpersonal process in cognitive therapy. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salomon, G. (2006). Does peace education really make a difference? Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 12(1), 37–48. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327949pac1201_3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salzberg, S. (2002). Loving-kindness: the revolutionary art of happiness. Boston: Shambhala.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schachner, M. K., Brenick, A., Heizmann, B., Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Noack, P. (2015). Structural and normative conditions for interethnic friendships in multiethnic classrooms. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 47, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2015.02.003.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitt, M. T., Branscombe, N. R., Postmes, T., & Garcia, A. (2014). The consequences of perceived discrimination for psychological well-being: a meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin, 140, 921–948.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schonert-Reichl, K. A., Oberle, E., Lawlor, M. S., Abbott, D., Thomson, K., Oberlander, T. F., & Diamond, A. (2015). Enhancing cognitive and social-emotional development through a simple-to-administer mindfulness-based school program for elementary school children: a randomized controlled trial. Developmental Psychology, 51(1), 52–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapiro, S. L., & Carlson, L. E. (2009). The art and science of mindfulness: integrating mindfulness into psychology and the helping professions. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Shwed, U., Shavit, Y., Dellashi, M., & Ofek, M. (2014). Integration of Arab Israelis and Jews in schools in Israel. Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel. Retrieved from: http://taubcenter.org.il/integration-of-arabisraelis-and-jews-in-schools-in-israel.

  • Teichman, Y., Bar-Tal, D., & Abdolrazeq, Y. (2007). Intergroup biases in conflict: reexamination with Arab pre-adolescents and adolescents. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31(5), 423–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tirch, D. D., Silberstein, L. R., & Kolts, R. L. (2016). Buddhist psychology and cognitive-behavioral therapy: a clinician’s guide. New York: The Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Titzmann, P. F., Brenick, A., & Silbereisen, R. K. (2015). Friendships fighting prejudice: a longitudinal perspective on adolescents’ cross-group friendships with immigrants. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44, 1318–1331. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-015-0256-6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, B. A., & Shapiro, S. L. (2006). Mental balance and wellbeing: building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. American Psychologist, 61, 690–701. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.61.7.690.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weare, K. (2013). Developing mindfulness with children and young people: a review of the evidence and policy context. Journal of Children’s Services, 8(2), 141–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Emergency Medicine and PREPARED Center for Emergency Response Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beersheba, Israel

    Rony Berger

  2. Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Connecticut, 348 Mansfield Road, U-1058, Storrs, CT, 06269-1058, USA

    Alaina Brenick

  3. School of Education, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Ricardo Tarrasch

  4. Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Ricardo Tarrasch

Authors
  1. Rony Berger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alaina Brenick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ricardo Tarrasch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

RB: designed and executed the study, trained the facilitators, managed the data collection, and collaborated with the writing of the manuscript. AB: assisted in the conceptualization of the study, analyzed the data, and collaborated with the writing of the manuscript. RT: designed and executed the study, assisted with data collection, analyzed the data, wrote part of the methods and results, and collaborated with the editing of the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alaina Brenick.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Electronic Supplementary Material

ESM 1

(PDF 62 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Berger, R., Brenick, A. & Tarrasch, R. Reducing Israeli-Jewish Pupils’ Outgroup Prejudice with a Mindfulness and Compassion-Based Social-Emotional Program. Mindfulness 9, 1768–1779 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-0919-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-018-0919-y

Keywords

  • Call to Care-Israel
  • Compassion
  • Intergroup contact
  • Mindfulness
  • Prejudice reduction
  • Protracted ethnic conflict