lesson 8 - intergroup relations and conflict

Question 1

what is intergroup behaviour?

Answer 1

“Any perception, cognition or behaviour that is influenced by people’s recognition that they and others are members of distinct social groups is intergroup behaviour”.
-behaviour is influenced by participation in social groups
-Identification with different social groups, ‘in group and ‘out group’, feel a sense of belonging, e.g., political party, university sprots team you are a member of, country.

Question 2

what facilitates intergroup conflict

Answer 2

relative deprivation
this is…
- a sense of having less than we feel entitled to
- perceived gap between expectations or entitlements (‘what ought to be’) and attainments (‘what is’)
- deprivation is not absolute, it is relative to other conditions
- crucial precondition for intergroup aggression (Walker and Smith, 2002)

Question 3

what are the different types of relative deprivation? (2)

Answer 3

Egoistic relative deprivation: (individual)
- feeling of having less than we are entitled to
- relative to our personal aspirations, or relative to other individuals.

fraternalisic relative deprivation: (group)
- sense that our group has less than we are entitled
- relative to the collective aspirations. or other groups
- linked to social unrest, e.g., riots

Question 4

consequences of relative deprivation and social unrest (2)

Answer 4

relative deprivation and social unrest can lead to prejudice and discrimination
Berkowitz (1962) - intergroup prejudice and discriminatory behaviour function of:
*Aversive events (instigation for people to act aggressively)
this will lead to…
*Aggressive associations (e.g., situational cues, past associations)

Question 5

the process of collective violence

Answer 5

• relative deprivation
• frustration
• aversive environmental conditions amplify frustration (e.g., heatwave - Watt riots, 1965)
• individual acts
• individual acts of aggression exacerbated by aggressive stimuli (e.g., armed police)
• aggression becomes more widespread and we assume the role of the dominant response
• aggression spreads rapidly through social facilitation process
• collective violence

Question 6

what is required for a person to want to participate in collective violence? (2)

Answer 6

• need to identify strongly to the group
• need to feel that the physical action will bring about social change

Question 7

realist conflict theory: Sherif, 1966

Answer 7

*Sherif (1966): where groups compete over scarce resources, intergroup relations become marked by conflict & ethnocentrism arises (Hogg & Vaughan).

Question 8

what is ethnocentrism:

Answer 8

-“View of things in which one’s own group is at the centre of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it…” (Sumner, 1906)
-Evaluative preference for all aspects of own group, relative to others.
- e.g., desire for own group to have power at the expense of other groups, perception of other groups as threats

Question 9

the 4 phases of Sherif’s summer camp studies:

Answer 9

1. Spontaneous friendship formation
2. In-group and norm formation
3. Intergroup competition
4. Intergroup cooperation

Question 10

phase 1 of Sherif’s summer camp study

Answer 10

• 21 boys
• arrived at camp
• engaged in various activities, friendships formed

Question 11

phase 2 of Sherif’s summer camp study

Answer 11

• camp was divide into two, friendships split.
• groups were isolated, separate living quarters and daily activities, developed norms and status differences.
• names for each group, each had groups, status difference

Question 12

phase 3 of Sherif’s summer camp study

Answer 12

-Introduction of competitive games between the groups.–> competition & intergroup hostility e.g., tug of war.
-Ethnocentric attitudes & behaviour amplified.
-Majority of intergroup encounters degenerated into intergroup hostility.
-Intergroup relations deteriorated –> two of the experiments concluded at this stage.
-Winning team e.g., a pocketknife for each member, trophy. Scarce resource that only 1 team could win. The introduction of scare resources led to competition between the two groups.

Question 13

phase 4 of Sherif’s summer camp study

Answer 13

-Groups provided with superordinate goals – the two groups had to cooperate to achieve their goals.
-Groups had to work together in cooperation.
-E.g., superordinate goal – everyone needed to help with broken down truck.
-Cooperation between the groups to achieve superordinate goal led to a reduction in intergroup conflict.

Question 14

realistic conflict theory: nature of goals

Answer 14

nature of goals determines relations
- mutually exclusive goals between groups leads to realistic intergroup conflict and ethnocentrism
- shared (superordinate) goals lead to cooperation.
reduction in conflict.

Question 15

support for group conflict conclusions - research evidence

Answer 15

*Brewer & Campbell (1976): greater derogation of more proximal tribal groups –> Direct competition for scarce resources.
*Fisher (1990, 2005): establishing superordinate goals can reduce Inter group (IG) conflict between communities & nations.

Question 16

other factors can lead to conflict in non-competitive or cooperative intergroup relations

Answer 16

• not just scarce resources
• ethnocentrism

Question 17

Minimal Group Paradigm (MGP) - Tajfel et al., 1971

Answer 17

Not a theory, experimental methodology to investigate the effect of social categorisation alone on behaviour.
* Assigned participants to 2 groups (arbitrary selection).
* Participants only knew their own group membership.
* Identity of recipients was unknown.
* Asked to allocate money to others.
* In-group favouritism.
- Despite no history, no self-interest, identity of other members of each group unknown.

Could not allocate money to self – no self-interest. Ps adopted an in group favouritism strategy, member of ‘my’ group gets more points in comparison to the out group. Ps pursued superiority of their own group.

Question 18

another variation - Billig and Tajfel (1973)

Answer 18

*Random allocation to X/Y
toss of coin (more arbitrary)
*To eliminate possibility that participants may infer that people in same group interpersonally similar to one another because of artist preference.
*Mere allocation to a group produced in-group favouritism, and competitive intergroup behaviour.

Question 19

social identity theory:

Answer 19

*“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” (Hogg & Vaughan, 2014, p.418)
*Social categories provide members with a ‘social identity’ = part of self-concept derived from membership of social groups.
*Positive distinctiveness and self-enhancement.

Question 20

how can intergroup relations be improved - realistic conflict theory

Answer 20

Realistic conflict theory: existence of superordinate goals gradually reduces intergroup hostility and conflict. H/e this is a problem if people fail to achieve. Intergroup cooperation may worsen if intergroup relations if failures are attributed to the out-group.

Question 21

how can intergroup relations be improved - contact hypothesis

Answer 21

Contact Hypothesis (Allport, 1954):
“Bringing members of opposing social groups together will improve intergroup relations and reduce prejudice & discrimination” (Hogg & Vaughan, 2014, p.441).
*Conditions for contact (Allport, 1954):
*Should be prolonged & involve cooperative activity.
*Contact between people or groups of equal social status.
*Should occur within framework of official and institutional support for integration.