The Psychology of Repression and Polarization

Repression by regimes over opposition forces is quite usual in the Middle East, Latin America, North Africa, and South Asia. The authoritarian regimes most of the time use repression as a tool to divide the opposition, therefore posing minimum threats to continued rule. While facing repression by the state, the opposition groups try to find political opportunity and materialize it against the status-quo. However, most of the studies agreed upon the fact that different ideological opposition groups can hardly form an alliance against the repressive regime. This ideological difference provides repression a better chance to prevail in favor of authority. According to this study, repression of dissent causes polarization and division into various groups. Several psychological approaches used to analyze this phenomenon were processes of group differentiation, identity and prioritization initiated after suffering from state repression. This study discusses two types of repressions and their consequences: widespread repression that causes coalition among oppositional forces because of collective suffering, and targeted repression that resulted in division and polarization. Case study of state repression in Egypt and Tunisia is analyzed over the period, where authorities divided the dissent parties and helped the regime to sustain and strengthen itself. The article concludes that polarization among opposition due to targeted repression decreases the chances of cooperative behavior and formation of a united front against despotic and tyrannical regime, therefore minimizing democratic values in respective states.