Intergroup Violence Among Jewish and Arab Youths in Israel: Testing a Multifactor Ecological Model

Objective: Hundreds of thousands of people around the world have lost their lives to intergroup violence (IV) over the past two decades. The current study tested a multifactor ecological model, including societal (exposure to trauma), social (exposure to community violence, and conflict with parents), and individual (exposure to microaggression) factors for engagement in IV in two samples of Israeli youths, Jewish (N = 306), and Arab (N = 302). Method: Participants filled out self-report questionnaires assessing exposure to trauma, community violence, conflict with parents, microaggression, and engagement in IV. Results: The results showed that Arab youths who indicated higher levels of religiosity and reported experiencing more traumatic events, community violence, and microaggression were more likely to perpetrate IV (OR = 1.31, 1.39, 1.5, 2.28, respectively). Jewish youths who reported exposure to more traumatic events, more conflict with parents, and greater exposure to microaggression events were more likely to perpetrate IV (OR = 2.28, 2.70, 3.25, respectively). Conclusion: The current study illuminates the similarities (traumatic events and microaggression) and the differential associations of individual, social, and societal factors and IV among Jewish and Arab youths. Microaggression emerged as the strongest predictor for IV in both groups. These findings highlight the need to inform ecological interventions aimed at mitigating IV in a context-sensitive manner.