Second, material conditions of scarcity can intensify existing identity conflicts. Israeli and Palestinian identities are often construed as mutually exclusive in this way. Common cognitive biases also tend to intensify enemy images. Egocentric bias leads people to overestimate the degree to which others' actions are directed at them. Hence they may perceive themselves to be a target of the other's actions, even when the other is not actually directing action toward them.
People also tend to attribute others' actions to their character, rather than their situation.
Hence, they tend to see the other as bad, rather than as constrained by difficult circumstances. The international or domestic situation may also act to intensify enemy images. Egocentric bias may cause a people to interpret other states' defensive acts as aggressive acts, and so intensify their image of the other state as an enemy. Domestically, identity conflicts are often exploited and exacerbated for political gain. This is easiest to do in countries with existing deep divisions, or where elites tend to dominate the means of mass communication.