In the present talk I will first briefly present the theoretical perspective of needs-based model of reconciliation, according to this which (a) following transgressions, victims are motivated to restore their agentic identity whereas perpetrators are motivated to restore their moral image, and (b) the restoration of victims' and perpetrators' positive identities increases their willingness to reconcile with each other. I will then discuss two recent large-scale studies (Ns = 11,211 and 4,105) that tested hypotheses derived from the model using data collected as part of the Zurich Intergroup Project (ZIP). The first study (Hässler et al., 2021) tested the effects of need satisfaction through intergroup contact on advantaged and disadvantaged group members’ support for social change towards equality using a specification curve analysis. This novel statistical approach was developed due to the understanding that results in social psychological research often depend too much on decisions that are defensible on the one hand, but arbitrary and sometimes motivated on the other. The second study (Frisch et al., 2022) tested whether the effects of need satisfaction through intergroup contact on support for social change is stronger among advantaged group members who hold ‘a dual identity representation’ of the relations between the advantaged and disadvantaged groups. Finally, I will discuss the potential practical implications of the model and point to future research avenues.