The Role of Inclusive and Exclusive Victim Consciousness in Predicting Intergroup Attitudes: Findings from Rwanda, Burundi, and DRC Johanna Ray Vollhardt Clark University Rezarta Bilali New York University The present research examined the differential relationship between distinct construals of collective victimhood—specifically, inclusive and exclusive victim consciousness—and intergroup attitudes in the context and aftermath of mass violence. Three surveys in Rwanda (N = 842), Burundi (N = 1,074), and Eastern DRC (N = 1,609) provided empirical support for the hypothesis that while exclusive victim consciousness predicts negative intergroup attitudes, inclusive victim consciousness is associated with positive, prosocial intergroup attitudes. These findings were significant when controlling for age, gender, urban/rural residence, education, personal victimization, and ingroup superiority. Additionally, exclusive victim consciousness mediated the effects of ingroup superiority on negative intergroup attitudes. These findings have important theoretical implications for research on collective victimhood as well as practical implications for intergroup relations in regions emerging from violent conflict. KEY WORDS: collective victimhood, victim consciousness, victimization, ingroup superiority, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC One of many areas in the world that has been plagued by cyclical violence is the Great Lakes region in Africa. The 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the civil war in Burundi from 1993 to 2005, and the ongoing violence in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are just a few examples of violent outbursts in the region since its decolonization. Political scientists and historians have noted that perceived ingroup victimization is at the core of these violent conflicts. For example, analyzing mass violence in Rwanda, Mamdani (2001) observes: Ever since the colonial period, the cycle of violence has been fed by a victim psychology on both sides. Every round of perpetrators has justified the use of violence as the only effective guarantee against being victimized yet again. For the unreconciled victim of yesterday’s violence, the struggle continues. The continuing tragedy of Rwanda is that each round of violence gives us yet another set of victims-turned-perpetrators. (pp. 267–68) Other scholars have noted a similar role of collective victimhood and resulting victim beliefs in neighboring countries, Burundi and (Eastern) DRC (e.g., Lemarchand, 2009). The aim of the present Political Psychology, Vol. xx, No. xx, 2014 doi: 10.1111/pops.12174 1 0162-895X © 2014 International Society of Political Psychology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, and PO Box 378 Carlton South, 3053 Victoria, Australia 489 0162-895X V C 2014 International Society of Political Psychology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc., 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, and PO Box 378 Carlton South, 3053 Victoria, Australia Political Psychology, Vol. 36, No. 5, 2015 doi: 10.1111/pops.12174