Myths of trauma and myths of cooperation: Diverse consequences of history for societal cohesion.

We propose that historical myths fall into two distinctive categories: Traumatic and cooperative. Traumatic myths, highlighting collective suffering, can undermine trust and foster conspiracy theories, whereas cooperative myths, emphasizing collective action, enhance group cohesion and within-group coalition building. Psychological and sociological evidence supports these divergent impacts of historical myths both in nations and social movements.

Cleansing and separating: From modern agriculture and genocide to post-separation era.

We propose that the metaphor of cleansing was a by-product of modernization processes. Based on cultural and historical evidence, we claim that the activation of cleansing metaphor triggered positive associations in times when separation was a positively regarded element of human culture and agriculture, but it should not exert the same effect in times when separation became culturally anachronistic.