Do Conflict Narratives and Allyship Shape Collective Guilt and Support for Peace in Violent Conflict Contexts? It Depends on the Narrative’s Endorser

In the context of the Turkish-Kurdish conflict, we test (1) the role of collective guilt in the relationship between the endorser of the minority’s narrative and support for peace and (2) how Turkish allyship moderates the relationship between the narrative endorser and collective guilt. We collected experimental data from ethnically Turkish participants (majority group, N = 107) and manipulated the endorser of the narrative (majority Turks vs. minority Kurds). The results indicate that when the minority group’s narrative is communicated by the minority (vs. majority), majority members report more collective guilt, leading to more positive attitudes toward peacebuilding, but only among Turkish allies. We discuss how conflict narratives and allyship can facilitate conflict resolution and coalition-building across groups.