Cold War Psychology

Humans are not the only animal that wages war. Bees; ants; and one of humanity’s closest relatives, chimpanzees, all engage in coordinated attacks against a rival group, usually to gain territory or resources. The predisposition towards violent group-on-group conflict is ingrained into animal psychology. Although animal warfare lacks the deliberation and complex aims of human warfare, it suggests human warfare is a natural part of human psychology. Warfare seems to be inherently psychological and not under a person’s conscious control. One example is the Cold War. Natural social psychological phenomenon inflamed the conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States in the Cold War, as well as the public opinions of the conflict. The aggressive …show more content…
an ‘us vs. them’ mindset) prevented the United States and the Soviet Union from reaching a diplomatic solution in the Cold War. This effect causes members of a group to view their own group favorably, and view an opposing group as inferior, especially if that opposing group has conflicting goals, and is competing for resources. Religion was a strong dividing force between the Soviet Union and the United States. The Soviet Union had an official policy of state atheism. While the Soviet Union never officially banned religion, freedom of religion was severely limited. The Soviet government banned religious publications, closed churches, and members of clergy were killed or sentenced to labour camps. In America, the majority of the population was Christian. Religion was encouraged by the government. Attending services was encouraged, the words ‘under God’ was added to the Pledge of Allegiance, and ‘In God We Trust’ became the national motto of the United States. Religion was a point of serious disagreement between the two groups. In-group bias based on religious belief caused both the USA, and the USSR to view themselves as superior, and view the other with contempt. Both sides believed they were the intelligent ones, and the other group was foolish and ignorant. Both sides believed only they were truly righteous and good. These simplistic views of one another also encouraged both groups to view the other as an abstract concept rather than a collection of individuals. Through an in-group bias, both sides had dehumanized the other, and viewed each other as immoral and idiotic. This very likely weakened the desire for a diplomatic compromise between the two countries, and increased support for an aggressive solution. Another cause of an in-group bias between the two countries is the contrast between the structure of Soviet and American society. The USA and USSR founded their societies on very different political philosophies. The United States was