Intergroup Relations and Conflict Flashcards
define intergroup behaviour
any behaviour, perception or cognition that is influenced by people’s recognition/understanding that they are members of distinct social groups
identify features of in-groups
- they are important to individual
- individual needs to identify with social group
give examples of in-groups
- political view/party
- uni sports team
- one’s country
define outgroup
groups that individuals don’t feel they belong to
how does intergroup conflict arise?
relative deprivation
define relative deprivation
- a sense of having less than we feel entitled to
- perceived gap between expectations/entitlement (what ought to be) and attainments (reality)
- deprivation is relative to other conditions
identify types of relative deprivation (Runciman, 1966)
- egoistic relative deprivation
- fraternalistic relative deprivation
explain egoistic relative deprivation
- feeling of having less than we are entitled to
- this is relative to our personal aspirations or to other individuals
explain fraternalistic relative deprivation
- sensing that our group has less than it is entitled to
- this is relative to the collective aspirations or other groups
- associated with social unrest
define social unrest
a form of public engagement that is disruptive to the public order
- riots or forms of social protest used to achieve social change
factors that play key role in achieving social change
- individuals must strongly identify with particular group/cause
- cause must be feasible and likely to bring about social change
what did Berkowitz (1962) argue about subjective frustrations and the effect this has on behaviour?
- subjective frustrations could produce an instigation to be aggressive
- expression of aggression = strengthened by aggressive associations
- associations = situational cues, past associations
How does feelings of relative deprivation, according to Berkowitz’s analysis, lead to collective violence?
- feelings of relative deprivation
- leads to frustration
- aversive environmental conditions amplifies frustration
- individual acts of aggression
- individual acts of aggression escalates due to aggressive stimuli
- aggression becomes more widespread
- aggression becomes dominant response
- aggression spreads rapidly through social facilitation process
- results in collective violence
outline the realistic conflict theory (Sherif, 1966)
- theory based on series of summer camp studies
- suggested that when you have different groups competing for scarce resources, intergroup relations become marked by conflict
- ethnocentrism also arises
what is ethnocentrism?
- idea that ones own group is better/superior compared to other social groups
outline Sherif’s camp studies (1966)
- 22 boys invited to summer camp
Run in 4 phases:
1/ Spontaneous friendship formation
2/ In-group and norm formation
3/ Intergroup competition
4/ Intergroup cooperation
outline the first phase of the camp study
1/ Spontaneous friendship formation
- boys arrived at camp
- engaged in activities
- friendships formed
outline the second phase of the camp study
2/ In-group and norm formation
- camp divided into 2 groups
- friendships split up
- groups isolated
- separate living quarters
- separate activities
- groups developed norms and status differences
outline the third phase of the camp study
3/ Intergroup competition
- groups brought together
- competitive games between groups introduced
- each member of winning team would get prizes
- scarce resources = only one team getting trophy and prizes
what were the findings of the third phase
3/ Intergroup competition
- ethnocentric attitudes & behaviour amplified
- majority of intergroup encounters degenerated into intergroup hostility
- intergroup relations deteriorated
- hostility went beyond competition games
- food fights broke out between groups
Sherif showed that when groups compete for a goal, this lead to competition between groups and conflict
outline the fourth phase of the camp study
4/ Intergroup cooperation
- superordinate goals introduced
- these are goals that both groups desired
- but goals can only be achieved through cooperation (if groups worked together)
what were the findings of phase 4?
- cooperation between the groups to achieve superordinate goal lead to a reduction in intergroup conflict
define realistic conflict theory
- argues the nature of the goal is what determines the relationship between in-groups
- tries to explain intergroup behaviour in terms of the nature of goal relations between groups
- at intergroup level, mutually exclusive goals between groups leads to competitions
- shared superordinate goals leads to cooperations and reduction in conflict
outline the minimal group paradigm (MGP)
(Tajfel et al., 1971)
- experimental method
- used to investigate if placing people into different social groups could generate problematic intergroup relations
- ppts were invited to come into lab
- assigned to 2 different groups
- ppts only knew their own group membership
- identity of recipients = unknown
- asked to allocate money to others
what were then findings of the minimal group paradigm (MGP)?
- found in-group favouritism
- this was found despite no history, no self-interest and identity of other members unknown
outline Billig & Tajfel (1973) MGP study
- randomly allocated ppt to X or Y group by tossing coin
- this eliminated possibility of ppt inferring that they are in same group as another
- even with this allocation of group, in-group favouritism and competitive intergroup behaviour found
outline the Social Identity Theory
- developed on basis of MGP
- provides motivational account of why people show group favouritism
- as individuals, we have personal identities and social identities
- person identity = characteristics of individual, part of self-concept that is developed from personality traits
- social identity = linked to social groups we belong to/identify with
- social identity = part of self-concept that derives from membership of social groups we are apart of
- according to SIT, people have desire to have positive and secure self-concept
- we are motivated to feel good about ourselves
- this included feeling positive towards the social groups that we belong to
why is in-group favouritism shown, according to the social identity theory?
- people will show in-group favouritism because we derive self-esteem from status and achievements from in-groups
- we want to be seen as belonging to good, positive group
how does realistic conflict theory explain improving intergroup relations?
- the existence of superordinate goals gradually reduces intergroup hostility and conflict
what happens if superordinate goals are unsuccessful in reducing hostility?
- unsuccessful intergroup cooperation may worsen intergroup relations
- especially if failure to achieve goals is as a result of the outgroup
how does contact hypothesis explain improving intergroup relations?
(Allport, 1954)
- bringing members of opposing social groups can improve intergroup relations and reduce prejudice & discrimination towards outgroup members
what conditions need to be met for contact hypothesis to improve intergroup relations?
- contact should be prolonged & involve cooperative activity
- contact should be between people or groups of equal social status
- contact should occur within framework of official and institutional support for integration (contact needs to be seen as important and valuable)
