Ethnicities and conflict: A survey experiment on the effect of narrative framing on perceptions in Jos, Nigeria

Abstract

Where ethnic violence divides groups by both religious and tribal affiliation, how does the ‘ethnic’ characterization of conflict affect perceptions of the crises? From a survey experiment in Jos, Nigeria, we find that priming respondents with religious versus tribal conflict frames leads respondents to differently interpret the causes of violence, with religious issues viewed as the most salient cause of violence and religion the most important solution. The findings emphasize that where more than one ethnic identity is salient to conflict, the causes of violence take on different meaning depending on how individuals interpret the ethnic dimension of local violence.