Intergroup Relations Flashcards

1
Q

What famous study was done on intergroup conflict? Whose study was it? What was the end result?

A

Robbers Cave study - Sherif et al.

Two cabins full of boys were made to compete with each other at a summer camp.

The competition seemed to fuel norms of toughness and hostility, and at least one good-sized brawl had to be prevented by staff.

Competition did not stay competition: It flared into outright intergroup hatred.

The Sherifs, by starting with two newly formed groups with no history of rivalry, succeeded in documenting the social and psychological factors that pushed these two groups into an escalating conflict.

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2
Q

What is realistic group conflict theory? Whose theory is it?

A

(Sherif) claims that intergroup conflict occurs when there is competition for scarce resources

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3
Q

What is the discontinuity effect? How is it often modeled?

A

The tendency for groups to display a level of competitiveness that is greater than the competitiveness displayed by individuals

intergroup competition has a different dynamic from intragroup competition.
–Intergroup competition seems to result in fiercer conflict

Realistic group conflict is often modeled with the Prisoner’s Dilemma Game, the most famous game in game theory.

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4
Q

What is the prisoner’s dilemma game? What does it study?

A

For studying cooperation in social dilemmas, the most widely studied game is the prisoner’s dilemma. This is based on a little story.
Imagine you and I have robbed a bank. We both get caught after we hide the loot, so the cops can’t prove we did it; nevertheless, they know that we have violated some gun-control laws.

To try to get us to confess, they take us to separate rooms to interrogate us.
We each have two choices: to cooperate (with each other, i.e. we tell the cops nothing) or to defect (i.e. confess to the cops). This leads to four possibilities.

The point is that many social situations follow roughly this dynamic.

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5
Q

What are the 4 possibilities in the prisoner’s dilemma game? Which option do groups tend to choose?

A

(C) = cooperation
(D) = defection

  1. Both groups choose C = win 50/50
  2. One group chooses C, other D = 20/60
  3. One group chooses D, other C = 60/20
  4. Both groups choose D = 30/30

The prisoner’s dilemma game payoff matrix used to study competition and intergroup conflict. Groups tend to select option D much more frequently than option C.

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6
Q

What does social dominance theory assert?

A

unequal control of resources is very common, tends to be justified ideologically, and often leads to exploitative practices

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7
Q

What do individuals with high levels of social dominance orientation (SDO) strive for?

A

to maximize their group’s gains, particularly in relationship to other groups’ outcomes

the desire to see society organized hierarchically

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8
Q

In conditions of intergroup conflict, anger is often experienced when what happens? How is this often expressed?

A

when the ingroup’s goals are frustrated, leading to potential anger and retaliation

This anger is not always directed at those who have caused the frustration. When it is directed at others, it is called scapegoating.

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9
Q

What is the norm of reciprocity? What does it grow out of?

A

Groups, like individuals, tend to obey the norm of reciprocity. They answer threats with threats, insults with insults, and aggression with aggression

the prisoner’s dilemma

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10
Q

Cultures differ in their ________ surrounding conflict.

A

norms

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11
Q

What are face cultures? What are their norms around conflict?

A

societies that emphasize hierarchy, humility, and harmony. Face cultures, like honor cultures, value respect and deference, but individuals in face cultures cooperate with one another to maintain one another’s respectability.

A person who is insulted by another person in a face culture need not react aggressively, for the social group will deal with the offender. Taking matters into one’s own hands is a selfish act, for it disrupts harmony and circumvents the system of social hierarchy.

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12
Q

What are dignity cultures? What are their norms around dealing with conflict?

A

societies that stress the importance of personal integrity and individual worth. In such cultures, members learn that each individual has inherent value, and the quality of their character is not defined by other people. This cultural syndrome is more likely to be manifested in more economically prosperous, individualistic countries (like ours)

opinions of others are considered relatively unimportant for personal worth

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13
Q

What are honour cultures? What are their norms around dealing with conflict?

A

usually arise in rural areas with little or no policing, one protects one’s stuff by maintaining a reputation for violent responses to insults. These tend to be the most interpersonally violent societies even though members do not in general endorse violence

people strive to avoid offending others, but will respond aggressively if they feel they or their group has been insulted in some way

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14
Q

What is ingroup positivity and outgroup negativity? What is it an example of?

A

the selective favoring of the ingroup, its members, and its products, and
the derogation of the outgroup, its members, and its products

example of intergroup bias

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15
Q

What is double standard thinking? What is it an example of?

A

Judging the actions and attributes of one’s own group positively, but viewing these very same behaviors or displays negatively when the outgroup performs them.

example of intergroup bias

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16
Q

What are three cognitive intergroup biases? Explain each.

A

Outgroup homogeneity bias – The perceptual tendency to assume that the members of other groups are very similar to each other, whereas the membership of one’s own group is more heterogeneous.

Ultimate attribution error – Attributing negative actions performed by members of the outgroup to dispositional qualities and positive actions to situational, fluctuating circumstances.

Stereotypes – cognitive generalizations about the qualities and characteristics of the members of a particular group or social category

17
Q

What are implicit intergroup biases? How are they measured?

A

Even though people may, when asked, claim that they are not biased against outgroup members and do not favor their own group, their biases emerge when their implicit attitudes are measured.

One such measure, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) assesses the extent to which people associate one concept—such as the ingroup—with another concept—such as goodness – When individuals are shown pairs of words or images that match their intuitive associations of these two concepts, such as ingroup/kind and outgroup/evil, they respond quickly and without error

18
Q

What is moral exclusion? What is dehumanization? What is it an example of?

A

A psychological process whereby opponents in a conflict come to view each other as undeserving of morally mandated rights and protections.

During extreme intergroup conflicts, group members view their own group as morally superior and members of the outgroup as less than human (dehumanization)

Moral exclusion places the outgroup outside the moral realm. Dehumanization moves the outgroup outside the human realm.

example of intergroup bias

19
Q

What does social identity theory have to say about intergroup bias?

A

assumes that membership in groups can substantially influence members’ sense of self

suggestion that ingroup favoritism is in the service of ingroup members’ self-esteem

When individuals feel that the value of their group is being questioned, they respond by underscoring the distinctiveness of their own group and by derogating others

the biasing effects of group membership are even more substantial when
(1)
individuals identify with their group rather than simply belonging to it and
(2)
the relative status of existing groups is salient.

20
Q

What is the contact hypothesis?

A

The prediction that contact between the members of different groups will reduce intergroup conflict.

21
Q

Is contact itself enough to reduce conflict? If not, why not?

A

Contact itself is not enough to reduce conflict.

Four other features are needed:
Equal status
Common goals
Cooperation
Support of authorities, law, or custom

22
Q

Cooperation between groups can contribute to what?

A

cohesion

23
Q

Does uniting two conflicting groups against a common enemy help to reduce conflict between them?

A

can work in the short term but stops working once the enemy is removed

24
Q

If a member of the ingroup is friends with a member of the outgroup, what can that do?

A

sometimes helpful in easing tensions

25
Q

What are three cognitive treatments for intergroup conflict?

A

decategoriation

recategorization

cross categorization

26
Q

What is decategorization?

A

works by helping ingroup members think of outgroup members as individuals

27
Q

What is recategorization?

A

It helps people think of ingroup and outgroup members as belonging to a new superordinate category

28
Q

What is cross categorization?

A

makes use of the fact that we all belong to multiple groups, and that someone who is in an outgroup on one dimension may be in an ingroup on another

29
Q

People who are motivated to control prejudice will do what?

A

will still experience stereotyped thoughts, but they can also then impose different thoughts on themselves

30
Q

What is the jigsaw classroom?

A

In a classroom with members of multiple ethnic (or other groups), it may be helpful to form learning groups of (e.g.) 6 members drawn from most or all of these ethnic groups. Each group member then becomes expert in a small part of the material to be learned.
The experts then take turns presenting their bit of the material to the rest of the class.

31
Q

What are the effects of the jigsaw classroom?

A

Each member gets to be the expert 1/6 of the time and the learner 5/6 of the time.

Kids report that this is fun.

Members of minorities report feeling greater self-esteem.

Learning is comparable to other methods.