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Background: Persons displaced by conflict often consider returning to their area of origin. Lack of reliable information about conditions in the area of origin makes this decision more difficult. Displaced persons address this by seeking information from other sources, but must then assess the credibility of these sources. Objective: This study examines the role of symptoms of posttraumatic stress as a moderator of how information from a trustworthy source influences return intentions among displaced persons. Method: We test our hypotheses with a factorial survey experiment, drawing participants (N = 822) from residents of internally displaced person (IDP) camps in northeastern Nigeria. Results: Information from a more trustworthy source led to increased return intentions. However, the more participants reported symptoms of posttraumatic stress, the smaller the effect source trustworthiness had on their return intentions. Conclusions: Findings highlight how traumatic experiences during wartime can undermine the effectiveness of the provision of information from a trustworthy source about good conditions in displaced persons’ areas of origin, and suggest that interventions addressing posttraumatic stress could have downstream effects on safe, durable, and dignified return.

Exposure to war-related violence is associated with greater pro-social behavior. Although researchers point to empathy and individual differences in posttraumatic growth to explain this relationship, there is no direct empirical evidence of the psychological process by which exposure to wartime violence leads to pro-sociality. In this investigation, we propose and test a comprehensive model of empathy-mediated altruism that addresses both how and when exposure to violence may be associated with pro-sociality. Results from a large-scale survey experiment conducted in a naturalistic field setting (1660 refugees from the wars in Syria and Iraq residing in Turkey) indicate that participants reported greater empathy and altruism toward ingroup versus outgroup targets, and that posttraumatic stress predicted less and posttraumatic growth predicted more empathy and altruism. Further, empathy mediated ingroup biases in altruism (i.e., allocation of resources to the self and others); this indirect effect was stronger for those reporting greater posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress. These results support our proposed model of empathy-mediated altruism that incorporates individual differences in response to war violence and ingroup preferences.

Exposure to war-related violence is associated with greater pro-social behavior. Although researchers point to empathy and individual differences in posttraumatic growth to explain this relationship, there is no direct empirical evidence of the psychological process by which exposure to wartime violence leads to pro-sociality. In this investigation, we propose and test a comprehensive model of empathy-mediated altruism that addresses both how and when exposure to violence may be associated with pro-sociality. Results from a large-scale survey experiment conducted in a naturalistic field setting (1660 refugees from the wars in Syria and Iraq residing in Turkey) indicate that participants reported greater empathy and altruism toward ingroup versus outgroup targets, and that posttraumatic stress predicted less and posttraumatic growth predicted more empathy and altruism. Further, empathy mediated ingroup biases in altruism (i.e., allocation of resources to the self and others); this indirect effect was stronger for those reporting greater posttraumatic growth and posttraumatic stress. These results support our proposed model of empathy-mediated altruism that incorporates individual differences in response to war violence and ingroup preferences.