prejudice: realistic conflict theory Flashcards
What does the theory suggest brings about prejudice?
That the presence of another group will lead to conflict if they have conflicting goals or competition over limited resources.
Give 3 examples of scarce resources.
money
land
food
Define ‘zero-sums fate’.
When there are not enough resources to share and so only one group can prosper.
Give an example of a perceived conflict.
The idea that immigrants are coming into the UK and ‘stealing’ our jobs, when the reality is that they don’t apply for the majority of the jobs the British public seek.
Give an example of an actual conflict.
Civil war in Germany over competition for land.
What does this theory suggest as a solution to competition causing prejudice?
Superordinate goals.
Define ‘superordinate goals’.
A goal that can only be achieved through teamwork.
Give an example of a superordinate goal reducing conflict.
Stereotypes about French people have reduced since the introduction of the EU allowing trading and working together of European countries.
strength PEE and CA
- supporting evidence
a strength of the theory is the supporting evidence from sherif. for example, hostility occurred when the teams played games for resources but friction between the eagles and rattlers was reduced when they worked towards a superordinate goal such as fixing a broken truck. therefore, this shows that prejudice can come from competition and can be reduced through working towards a common goal.
however, the study has low generalisability as the sample only consisted of 12 year old boys from similar backgrounds and matched on IQ and sporting ability. therefore, this limits the usefulness of the findings because they aren’t representative of people outside this sample.
strength PEE
- supporting evidence
- christine brain
a strength of the study is supporting evidence from Christine Brain. for example, she reported conflicted between Russia and Ukraine due to Russia controlling gas supply to Europe that has to flow through Ukraine who don’t get any. therefore, demonstrating conflict in zero-sums and due to limited resources
weakness PEE
- criticism
a weakness of the theory is that the research often lacks validity. this is because of the use of correlational data of limited resources and conflict between groups. therefore, it is difficult to establish a cause and effect relationship which reduces credibility.
strength PEE
- application
a strength of the study is that it has applications. for example, Can explain real life examples of discrimination between people of different ethnicities. therefore, discrimination can be reduced in ways such as the jigsaw classroom technique (working together to piece together and assignment)
weakness PEE
- reductionist
a weakness of the study is that it could be reductionist. for example, it Reduces cause of prejudice down to competition for resources and conflict of interest. therefore, this is an oversimplified explanation as humans are complex and so there must be more detail to why prejudice occurs
alternate theory PEE
an alternate theory is social identity theory which disagrees with the concept of realistic construct. It says that prejudice is built in us and that the only thing you need to cause prejudice is the presence of another group. therefore, competition is not the only factor of prejudice.
