Do People Need Foreign Enemies?

Shoon Kathleen Murray and Jason Meyers
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Jason Meyers: School of International Service, American University

Journal of Conflict Resolution, 1999, vol. 43, issue 5, 555-569

Abstract: The authors use the collapse of the Soviet Union to test the hypothesis that some people are psychologically predisposed to “need enemies.†The findings from the 1988-1992 Leadership Opinion Project (LOP) panel data show that those respondents who had been highly suspicious of Soviet motives before the end of the cold war are more likely to view other countries with suspicion and to perceive the international environment as dangerous after the Soviet collapse. There is no evidence that people have actually transferred old fears about the Soviet Union onto a replacement enemy. China is the country most frequently named as the United States' main adversary after the cold war, making it the most likely object for the transference of hostility. Yet, even the most ardently anti-Soviet respondents do not exhibit greater fear or animosity toward China after they have lost their old enemy.

Date: 1999
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jocore:v:43:y:1999:i:5:p:555-569

DOI: 10.1177/0022002799043005001

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