Cultural Misbeliefs: A Fertile Ground at Service of Psychological Operations
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63053/ijrel.32Keywords:
Cultural Misbeliefs. Psychological Operations. Mass Manipulation. Public Perception. Critical ThinkingAbstract
This paper of ours further expounds on psyops and cultural misbeliefs-their complex interplay in how these deep-seated but very often cultural misbeliefs can be manipulated to have an influence upon perceptions and responses in the public. In psychological warfare, cultural misbelief has formed a two-edged sword wherein skilled players could use these in misleading the target groups in a direction that furthers the strategic aim. The present study has shown how rumors, especially those coinciding with deep-seated fears and prejudices can fuel acts of violence or justify negative behavior and has illustrated the huge impact which cultural background may have on individual behavior and social life. It also reflects upon the degree to which psychological operations have created public opinion and attempted to demoralize one's adversaries by using those cultural cleavages apt to awake social chaos and conflict and it also espouses critical thinking and education as imperatives for overcoming the aftermath of cultural misconceptions and propounds an inclusive approach toward attaining understanding and tolerance of the people within the community. It is when such misconceptions are identified and corrected that societies become resilient to such manipulative misinformation and create a united and peaceful atmosphere.
References
Aniq Luqman Shamsul Afkar; Zhooriyati Sehu Mohamad (2022): The Application of Psychological Operation (PSYOP): A Case Study on The Siege of Sauk. In 1 7 (7), e001643-e001643. DOI: 10.47405/mjssh.v7i7.1643.
Ateng, Mathias Awonnatey; Ibrahim, Mohammed Gadafi; Appiah-Boateng, Sabina (2024): Political violence in Ghana: trends, triggers and intervention strategies. In SN Soc Sci 4 (3). DOI: 10.1007/s43545-024-00874-0.
Barrett, Justin L.; Keil, Frank C. (1996): Conceptualizing a nonnatural entity: Anthropomorphism in God concepts. In Cognitive psychology 31 (3), pp. 219–247.
Baumard, Nicolas; Boyer, Pascal (2013): Religious beliefs as reflective elaborations on intuitions: A modified dual-process model. In Current directions in psychological science 22 (4), pp. 295–300.
Beauchamp-Mustafaga, Nathan (2023): Chinese next-generation psychological warfare. The military applications of emerging technologies and implications for the United States RR-A853-1.
Beck, Colin J. (2014): Reflections on the revolutionary wave in 2011. In Theory and Society 43, pp. 197–223.
Bleakley, Paul (2023): Panic, pizza and mainstreaming the alt-right: A social media analysis of Pizzagate and the rise of the QAnon conspiracy. In Current sociology 71 (3), pp. 509–525.
Bourne Jr, Lyle E.; Yaroush, Rita A. (2003): Stress and cognition: A cognitive psychological perspective.
Boyer, Pascal; Linard, Pierre (2006): Precaution systems and ritualized behavior. In Behavioral and Brain Sciences 29 (6), pp. 635–650.
Brazzoli, Mario Silvino (2020): Future prospects of information warfare and particularly psychological operations. In South African army vision, pp. 217–232.
Briggs, Chad; Danyk, Yuriy; Maliarchuk, Tamara (2021): Security Aspects of Hybrid War, COVID-19 Pandemic and Cyber-Social Vulnerabilities. In Connections QJ 20 (3-4), pp. 47–72. DOI: 10.11610/Connections.20.3-4.03.
Darley, John M.; Latané, Bibb (1968): Bystander intervention in emergencies: diffusion of responsibility. In Journal of personality and social psychology 8 (4p1), p. 377.
DiFonzo, Nicholas; Bordia, Prashant (2007): Rumor psychology: Social and organizational approaches: American Psychological Association.
Diggory, James C. (1956): Some consequences of proximity to a disease threat. In Sociometry 19 (1), pp. 47–53.
Elshami, Mohamedraed; Abukmail, Hanan; Thalji, Mariam; Al-Slaibi, Ibrahim; Alser, Mohammed; Radaydeh, Afnan et al. (2024): Myths and common misbeliefs about cervical cancer causation among Palestinian women: a national cross-sectional study. In BMC Public Health 24 (1), p. 189. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-024-17733-5.
Gray, Matthew (2010): Conspiracy theories in the Arab world: Sources and politics: Routledge.
Horowitz, Donald L. (2001): The deadly ethnic riot: Univ of California Press.
Hortensius, Ruud; Gelder, Beatrice de (2018): From empathy to apathy: The bystander effect revisited. In Current directions in psychological science 27 (4), pp. 249–256.
Kagan, Jerome; Rosman, Bernice L.; Day, Deborah; Albert, Joseph; Phillips, William (1964): Information processing in the child: Significance of analytic and reflective attitudes. In Psychological Monographs: General and Applied 78 (1), p. 1.
Kim, Jin Woo; Kim, Eunji (2018): Identifying the effect of political rumor diffusion using variations in survey timing. In Available at SSRN 3133334.
Lamb, Christopher J. (2005a): Review of Psychological Operations Lessons Learned from Recent Operational Experience: National Defense University Press Washington, DC.
Lamb, Christopher J. (2005b): Review of Psychological Operations Lessons Learned from Recent Operational Experience: National Defense University Press Washington, DC.
Mahta Hamzepour (Ed.) (2024): Cognitive Artistry: The Subtle Craft of Deception in Public Relations. Congress of Education،Social and Cultural Studies With a Future Research Approach.
Matsumoto, David (2007): Culture, context, and behavior. In Journal of personality 75 (6), pp. 1285–1320.
McKay, Ryan T.; Dennett, Daniel C. (2009): The evolution of misbelief. In Behavioral and Brain Sciences 32 (6), pp. 493–510.
Mercier, Hugo (2020a): Not born yesterday: The science of who we trust and what we believe: Princeton University Press.
Mercier, Hugo (2020b): The cultural evolution of oaths, ordeals, and lie detectors. In Journal of Cognition and Culture 20 (3-4), pp. 159–187.
Mercier, Hugo; Altay, Sacha (2022a): Do cultural misbeliefs cause costly behavior. In The cognitive science of belief, pp. 193–208.
Mercier, Hugo; Altay, Sacha (2022b): Do cultural misbeliefs cause costly behavior. In The cognitive science of belief, pp. 193–208.
Mercier, Hugo; Boyer, Pascal (2021): Truth-making institutions: From divination, ordeals and oaths to judicial torture and rules of evidence. In Evolution and Human Behavior 42 (3), pp. 259–267.
Metaxas, Panagiotis; Finn, Samantha T. (2017): The infamous# Pizzagate conspiracy theory: Insight from a TwitterTrails investigation. In Wellesley College Faculty Research and Scholarship 188, pp. 1–5.
Mladenova, Radmila (2019): Patterns of Symbolic Violence: The Motif of ‘Gypsy’Child-Theft across Visual Media: Heidelberg University Publishing (heiUP).
Mostafa Alaei Ardekani, Alireza Kondorani, Mohamad Amin Alaei Ardekan (Ed.) (2023): A Revised Conceptual Perspective on Lying, Deception, and Self-Deception through a Revision of Common Conditions. 1st International Conference on Psychology, Social Sciences, Educational Sciences and Philosophy: SID.
Mostafa Alaei Ardekani, Mohamad Amin Alaei Ardekani (Ed.) (2023): Goal-Oriented Perspective on Rationality: Reasons, Conflicts, and Paradoxes. The third international conference on advanced research in management and humanities: SID.
Munoz, Arturo (2012): US military information operations in Afghanistan: Effectiveness of psychological operations 2001-2010: RAND Corporation.
Narula, Sunil (2004): Psychological operations (PSYOPs): A conceptual overview. In Strategic Analysis 28 (1), pp. 177–192.
Petersen, Michael Bang (2020): The evolutionary psychology of mass mobilization: How disinformation and demagogues coordinate rather than manipulate. In Current opinion in psychology 35, pp. 71–75.
Petrocchi, Maurizio (2022): TSU-ti №1 Contemporary Challenges of Archaeology and History. In TSU-ti (1). DOI: 10.55804/TSU-ti-1/Petrocchi.
Porot, Nicolas; Mandelbaum, Eric (2021): The science of belief: A progress report. In Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science 12 (2), e1539.
Price, Henry Habberley (2014): Belief: Routledge.
Regehr, Cheryl; Goldberg, Gerald; Hughes, Judy (2002): Exposure to human tragedy, empathy, and trauma in ambulance paramedics. In American journal of orthopsychiatry 72 (4), pp. 505–513.
Santoro, Daniele; Kumar, Manohar (2018): Speaking truth to power-A theory of whistleblowing: Springer (6).
Schleifer, Ron (2006): Psychological operations: A new variation on an age old art: Hezbollah versus Israel. In Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 29 (1), pp. 1–19.
Shibutani, Tamotsu (1966): Improvised news: A sociological study of rumor: Ardent Media.
Silverman, Daniel; Kaltenthaler, Karl; Dagher, Munqith (2021): Seeing is disbelieving: the depths and limits of factual misinformation in war. In International Studies Quarterly 65 (3), pp. 798–810.
Sperber, Dan (1997): Intuitive and reflective beliefs. In Mind & Language 12 (1), pp. 67–83.
Taylor, Philip M. (2007): ‘Munitions of the mind’: A brief history of military psychological operations. In Place Branding and Public Diplomacy 3, pp. 196–204.
Turner, Victor; Abrahams, Roger; Harris, Alfred (2017): The ritual process: Structure and anti-structure: Routledge.
Uscinski, Joseph E.; Enders, Adam M. (2023): Conspiracy theories: A primer: Rowman & Littlefield.
Uso-Domenech, Josep-Lluis; Nescolarde-Selva, Josue (2016): What are belief systems? In Foundations of Science 21, pp. 147–152.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Authors
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.