UK/Anglo Perspectives on the Achievability of Peace

Abstract

This chapter focuses on perceptions of the achievability of peace in a sample of 854 ordinary people from the UK and Anglo region including Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the United States, Canada, and Australia. The introduction briefly reviews the history of these countries as it relates to major conflicts and/or peace processes and is followed by a discussion of the study. All participants responded to two achieving peace items on the PAIRTAPS survey. The responses to these items were analyzed using a coding system partially based on Bandura's theory of moral disengagement. The results reflected a high presence of agency and general optimism regarding one's ability to achieve peace, and more than half of all responses indicated humanitarian engagement. Motivating factors of engagement tended to be tolerance, empathy, and an understanding and respect of differences. The participants who demonstrated disengagement tended to place blame for not achieving peace elsewhere and frequently cited unflattering human characteristic as barriers to peace.