How indiscriminate violence fuels conflicts between groups: Evidence from Kenya
Year: 2020

Armed conflicts frequently fuel tensions between groups. The “cognitive perspective” of group identification offers a possible explanation, but is tacit on exact causal pathways. We predict that indiscriminate violence by armed actors induces fear of future attacks which in turn leads to prejudice, enhanced in-group cohesion, and calls for segregation. Selective violence does not have these effects. Relying on panel surveys conducted in Nairobi and Mombasa during the violent Kenyan elections in