A/75/179 through excessive fear, pathological dysfunction or traumatic experience of threat, hostility and insecurity, the basic drive of self-preservation can trigger aggressive, destructive or disproportionate action, including torture and ill-treatment, taken in speculative anticipation or erroneous perception of threats. 9 2. Self-determination 21. The basic drive of self-determination pursues the innate need of humans for autonomy and control over the circumstances of their own lives. Real or perceived threats to that basic need tend to trigger the same survival instincts as threats to physical security. Generic examples of collective efforts motivated by that drive are struggles for national self-determination, political and economic independence or freedom from slavery and servitude. Where distorted through excessive fear, pathological dysfunction or traumatic experience of helplessness, dependency, exploitation and abuse, the basic drive of self-determination can trigger compensatory efforts to secure freedom and circumstantial control through the accumulation of power and the domination of others, including through subjugation, intimidation, coercion and discrimination. 10 3. Self-affirmation 22. The basic drive of self-affirmation pursues the innate human need for selfworth, dignity and identity. Real or perceived violations of the human sense of dignity are experienced as targeting the innermost “self” and identity and, therefore, can trigger the same survival instincts as threats to physical security. Generic examples of efforts motivated by the drive of self-affirmation are those aimed at restoring individual, communal or national self-esteem after experiences of failure, defeat, guilt or humiliation. Where distorted through excessive pride, pathological dysfunction or traumatic experience of shame, humiliation, societal hardship and oppression, the basic drive of self-affirmation can trigger compensatory efforts to assert personal, communal or national esteem through the aggressive humiliation, devaluation and discrimination of others. 11 4. Self-justification 23. The basic drive of self-justification pursues the innate human need for justice. Real or perceived experiences of injustice are closely linked to perceptions of personal, communal or national dignity and can trigger the same survival-oriented defensive responses as threats to physical security. The primary societal tools aimed at restoring justice are, of course, judicial, administrative and arbitral decisions or __________________ 9 10 11 8/25 Daphna Canetti and others, “Collective trauma from the lab to the real world: the effects of the Holocaust on contemporary Israeli political cognitions”, Political Psychology, vol. 39, No. 1 (February 2018), pp. 3–21; Courtenay Conrad and others, “Threat perception and American support for torture”, Political Behavior, vol. 40, No. 4 (December 2018), pp. 989–1,009; Jeremy Rinker and Jerry Lawler, “Trauma as a collective disease and root cause of protracted social conflict”, Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, vol. 24, No. 2 (May 2018), pp. 150–164. Melissa Dichter and others, “Coercive control in intimate partner violence: relationship with women’s experience of violence, use of violence, and danger”, Psychology of Violence, vol. 8, No. 5 (2018), pp. 596–604; Pau Pérez-Sales, Psychological Torture: Definition, Evaluation and Measurement (New York, Routledge, 2017); Emily Hencken Ritter, “Policy disputes, political survival, and the onset and severity of State repression”, Journal of Conflict Resolution, vol. 58, No. 1 (February 2014), pp. 143–168. Linda Hartling and others, “Humiliation: a nuclear bomb of emotions?”, Psicologia Politica, vol. 46 (2013), pp. 55–76; David Lacey, “The role of humiliation in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict in Gaza”, Psychology and Society, vol. 4, No. 1 (2011), pp. 76–92; Clark McCauley, “Toward a psychology of humiliation in asymmetric conflict”, American Psychologist, vol. 72, No. 3 (April 2017), pp. 255–265. 20-09728