“Within five seconds, I can already see the contradictions and the conflict with society”: Applying the normative conflict model to a collectivist society

• Published date: 01 June 2024
• Author: Oriana Abboud Armaly
• Date: 01 June 2024
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21418

RESEARCH ARTICLE

“Within five seconds, I can already see the

contradictions and the conflict with society”:

Applying the normative conflict model to a

collectivist society

Oriana Abboud Armaly

The Max Stern Yezreel Valley College,

Emek Yezreel, Israel

Correspondence

Oriana Abboud Armaly, The Max

Stern Yezreel Valley College, Emek

Yezreel, Israel.

Email: orianaa@yvc.ac.il

Present address

Oriana Abboud Armaly, Department of

MA Studies in Organizational

Development and Consulting,

Department of Health Systems

Management, The Max Stern Yezreel

Valley College, Emek Yezreel, Israel.

Funding information

President of the State of Israel

Abstract

The normative conflict model of dissent predicts how

group members will behave when experiencing conflict

with the group on a normative basis, as a function of the

extent to which they identify with their group. While

strongly identified members will dissent and challenge

prevailing norms because they have the group's interests

in mind, weakly identified members will distance them-

selves because the group is not important to them. The

normative conflict model has so far been empirically

examined only in Western populations. The purpose of

the present study is to apply the normative conflict model

to a collectivist Arab society. Semi-structured interviews

were conducted with 28 young Arabs, graduates of one of

the only alternative schools operating in Arab society in

Israel. As students, they were exposed to liberal norms

that were very different from the dominant norms in

Arab society. The findings show that while dissent is the

most common practice that the study participants adopt,

some of them also distance themselves from society. As

opposed to the model's prediction, those who distance

themselves do care about their group and feel they belong

to it. Findings also reveal that the severity of social

Received: 5 March 2023 Revised: 24 September 2023 Accepted: 18 December 2023

DOI: 10.1002/crq.21418

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits

use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or

adaptations are made.

© 2024 The Authors. Conflict Resolution Quarterly published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.

Conflict Resolution Quarterly. 2024;41:437–452. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/crq 437

sanctions imposed on dissenters motivates them to

conform regardless of the conflict with society. The

findings are discussed and interpreted in accordance

with the normative conflict model. Further examina-

tion of the model in the context of additional non-

Western societies is needed.

1|INTRODUCTION

Arab society in Israel is undergoing a process of transformation (Ayalon, 2018), which is attrib-

uted to its exposure to a more Western lifestyle as a minority in a predominantly Jewish West-

ern state, and to the influence of worldwide globalization processes (Arar et al., 2013;

Jaraisy, 2013). However, in the literature it is still regarded as traditionally conservative and col-

lectivist (Cohen & Abdallah, 2021; Magadley & Amara, 2018; Soen & Hanan, 2013). Arab soci-

ety in Israel still tends to emphasize commitment to the extended family and its reputation,

prioritization of family and social needs at the expense of individual ones (Al-Krenawi &

Graham, 2011), and to highlight conformity to group norms rather than individual expression

(De Piano, 2020). Being located in the intersection between two value systems, a polarization

was created in Arab society between people who did not embrace modernization and people

who adopted a more individualistic orientation (Abu Asbeh, 2008). This state of affairs,

according to Abu Asbeh (2008), engendered a social, cultural, and moral crisis that primarily

affects young Arabs.

A group that might experience this conflict as particularly intense are the graduates of

Masar Alternative School, who serve as the sample for the present study. Masar is one of the

few alternative schools operating in Arab society in Israel. It was established in 1998 in north-

ern Israel as a regional comprehensive school that includes kindergartens, primary school, mid-

dle school, and high school classes (Masar Institute of Education, 2016). It welcomes Christian

and Muslim students from the Arab minority in Israel. Learning is carried out in small groups,

in interactive learning spaces, and one of the main tools incorporated into Masar's educational

activities to achieve its goals is dialogue, which the school's leaders consider a way of life. As an

alternative educational space, Masar, like other alternative frameworks, seeks to nurture the

students' individualized selves and encourage them to engage in constant self-examination and

independent critical thinking (Sliwka, 2008). Masar proposes a vision that seeks to challengeprev-

ailing principles in mainstream-state schools, which manifest in striving for uniformity, blurring

of differences, and encouraging conformity to the norms of the majority culture (Arab culture).

This is by encouraging diversity (Masar Institute of Education, 2018), promoting the students'

sense of creativity and ability to express themselves (Masar Institute of Education, 2023), and

striving for a systematic change that will benefit Arab society as a minority group in Israel (Masar

Institute of Education, 2016).

The participants in the present study completed most of their schooling in Masar, which

they perceived not only as an education space but also as an enveloping incubator, isolated

from Arab society. In this warm incubator, they felt safe to develop themselves and grow as

human beings, away from society's social expectations. Therefore, although they were born and

raised in Arab society, it is only after graduation that they are exposed, for the first time, to its

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