Choose Peace: The Role of Automatic and Controlled Processes in Peace Decision-Making

When individuals choose to behave peacefully they act to create and maintain non-violent, harmonious, kind and cooperative relationships with themselves and others. Research has produced many definitions of the construct of peace. Anderson (2004) assumes that the decision to adopt peace behaviors needs specific preconditions to be pursued:individuals, families, groups, communities and/or nations must first achieve low levels of violence and be able to engage in mutually harmonious relationships. Several authors have studied the decisionmaking process involved in peace choices. Danesh (1997), with his Integrative Theory of Peace (ITP), states that choosing peace involves psychological, social, political, ethical and spiritual factors and is expressed in intrapersonal, interpersonal, intergroup and international areas of human life. The ITP concerns three sub-theories concerning psychosocial, political and moral levels. The author also states that adopting a unity-based worldview constitutes the prerequisite for creating a culture of peace and healing, and that comprehensive, integrated and lifelong education programs are crucial to develop such a perspective. As Lieberman (2004) points out, during the course of our lives we continuously formulate implicit judgments and decisions that allow us to seamlessly make sense of and navigate our social world. If such decisions - including those related to peace - occur as responses to familiar stimuli, our choices can usually be taken automatically without ever becoming a focus of conscious attention. However, when our expectations are violated, doubt and ambiguity ensue, followed by more explicit (controlled) decision-making processes. The aims of this chapter are: a) to give an overview of existing literature on the antecedents of peace choices and attitudes; b) to evaluate the peace choice with reference to both top-down (controlled) and bottom-up (automatic) cognitive processes; and c) to list and describe some of the most influential interventions devised to promote peace choices among individuals, groups, communities and nations. The conclusions are discussed in the light of peace education choices related to both controlled and automatic processes