Toward the need to discriminate types of attackers and defenders in intergroup conflicts

Abstract

Here, we argue that attackers in intergroup conflicts are also likely to hold strong identity fusion, anticipate threat from the out-groups, and retaliate by signaling preemptive aggressiveness, which may not be asymmetrically exclusive to defenders. We propose that the study of the intergroup and intragroup dynamics could highlight more specific, robust markers to differentiate types of defenders from attackers.