The Effectiveness of a Pacifist Strategy in Conflict Resolution

Abstract

To find out to what extent the violence and exploitative behavior of the opponent of a pacifist strategist could be controlled, the author tested within a laboratory context the impact of eight variables. Together these variables accounted for more than 50% of the behavior of the opponents. The predictions concerning the controlled variables were confirmed. A pacifist strategy tends to be most effective in reducing violence and exploitative behavior when the human distance between the subject and opponent is small, the subject is well informed about the intentions of the pacifist, the subject is required to justify his behavior post-facto, and when a partial third party is present. Male and female subjects did not differ with respect to the use of violence, but it was found that females had a higher propensity to stalemate, with a consequent reduction of their own and the pacifist's winnings. The strongest predictors of the effectiveness of the pacifist strategy were the demand characteristics and the image of the pacifist held by the opponent. A discussion of the controllability of these last two variables is included.