integroup relations and conflict Flashcards
what is intergroup behaviour?
any perception/cognition/behaviour that is influenced by people’s recognition that they/others are members of distinct social groups
what is relative deprivation?
sense of having less than we are entitled to
gap between our expectations and attainments
deprivation is not absolute, but relative to other conditions
crucial precondition for intergroup aggression
what did Berkowitz (1962) find out about relative deprivation?
intergroup prejudice and discriminatory behaviour is a function of aversive events and aggressive associations
what are the two types of relative deprivation?
egoistic
fraternalistic
who proposed the types of relative depression?
Runciman
what is egoistic relative depression?
feeling of having less than we feel we are entitled to
relative to our personal aspirations or other individuals
what is fraternalistic relative depression?
sense that our group has less than it is entitled to
relative to the collective aspirations of other groups
associated with social unrest
how does collective violence occur?
relative deprivation
frustration
aversive environmental conditions
individual acts of aggression made worse by aggressive stimuli
aggression becomes more widespread and is the dominant response
aggression rapidly spreads through social facilitation
leads to collective violence
what is realistic conflict theory (Sherif, 1966)?
groups compete over scarce resources
intergroup relations have conflict
ethnocentrism arises
preference for own group
what is ethnocentrism?
own group is the centre of everything
others are scaled and rated with reference to it
what were the 4 phases of Sherif’s Summer Camp Studies?
spontaneous friendship formation
in group and norm formation
intergroup competition
intergroup co operation
what happened in spontaneous friendship formation?
arrived at camp
engaged in activities
friendships formed
what happened in in-group and norm formation?
camp divided into two groups
friendships split
groups isolated with different living areas and did different activities
led to norms and status differences
what happened in intergroup competition?
introduced competitive games between the groups
led to competition and intergroup hostility, ethnocentric attitudes and behaviour amplified, intergroup hostility
what happened in intergroup cooperation?
groups given superordinate goals
groups had to work together
this cooperation lead to a reduction in intergroup conflict
what are superordinate goals?
goals which are worth completing, but need 2+ social groups to cooperatively achieve
how can realistic conflict theory support Sherif’s Summer Camp Studies?
the nature of the goals determines the relationships
-mutually exclusive goals led to realistic intergroup conflict and ethnocentrism
-superordinate goals led to cooperation and a reduction in conflict
how does Brewer and Campbell (1976) support the behaviour in Sherif’s Summer Camp Studies?
more hostility between proximally closer tribal groups
leads to direct competition for scarce resources
how does Fisher (1990) support the behaviour in Sherif’s Summer Camp Studies?
establishing superordinate goals can reduce intergroup conflict between communities
what evidence goes against realistic conflict theory?
competitive intergroup behaviour under conditions of explicitly non-competitive or cooperative intergroup conditions
what happened in the minimal group paradigm (Tajfel et al, 1971)?
investigated the effect of social categorisation on behaviour
participants split into 2 groups
only knew their own group membership
identity of recipients was unknown
asked to allocate money to others
in group favouritism
what happened in Billig and Tajfel’s study?
random allocation to X/Y depending on a tossed coin
eliminates the possibility that participants may suspect they are in groups with similar people
merely allocating participants to a group produced in group favouristism and competitive intergroup behaviour
what is social identity theory?
theory of group membership and intergroup relations based on self categorisation, social comparison and the construction of a shared self-definition in terms of in-group defining properties
social categories provide members with a social identity- part of self-concept derived from membership of social groups
positive distinctiveness and self enhancement
which two theories suggest how we could improve intergroup relations?
realistic conflict theory
contact hypothesis (Allport, 1954)
what is realistic conflict theory?
existence of super-ordinate goals gradually reduces intergroup hostility and conflict
BUT
superordinate goals are a problem if we fail to achieve them, unsuccessful cooperation may worsen relations
what is contact hypothesis?
bringing members of opposing social groups together will improve intergroup relations, and reduce prejudice and discrimination
what are the conditions for contact in the contact hypothesis?
should be prolonged and involve cooperative activity
contact between people or groups of equal social status
should occur within the framework of official and institutional support for integration
