Ethics of care leadership expressions during a high-strength event: A gendered analysis of combative versus constructive policy suggestions during the Israel–Hamas war.

Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 111(11), Nov 2026, 1522-1547; doi:10.1037/apl0001381
The Israel–Hamas war is a protracted high-strength event, marked by peaks of conflict and sustained tension, that tests how leaders function in a context with competing national interests, moral strain, and wide-reaching human and political consequences. Guided by event system theory and ethics of care leadership (ECL), we track how members of the Israeli Knesset express their leadership during this conflict. We analyze 5.2 million words spoken by 152 legislators across 140 Knesset plenary sessions over 16 months. Using natural language processing, we score and classify 4,143 discursive policy suggestions as constructive (repair oriented) or combative (zero sum). We find that (a) expression of ECL is associated with a higher likelihood of constructive suggestions, (b) women express more ECL than men, and (c) men’s care expression rises during peak-strength months, narrowing—but not eliminating—the gender gap in ECL. These findings position ECL expression as both a stable orientation and a context-responsive discursive behavior, clarifying who is most likely to express ECL and when constructive suggestions are likely to emerge as event strength fluctuates. Results advance event system theory by specifying a morally grounded ECL response in high-strength contexts, and they inform practice by identifying care-led discourse as a lever for constructive policy during volatile times. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)