prejudice: realistic conflict theory Flashcards
based on the findings of the robber cave experiment
it explains prejudice as arising from conflict between groups- intergroup conflict. such as conflict of interest, competition for resources, dominance or land.
an example is immigrants, some people may hold prejudice against them as they could be seen as competitors for jobs, housing, schooling etc
what is the result of this conflict?
- extreme in-group favouritism and solidarity.
hostility towards members of the outgroup.
how can intergroup hostility be reduced?
Conflict, negative stereotypes and beliefs, and discrimination between groups can be reduced in situations where two or more groups are seeking to obtain some superordinate goals. Superordinate goals are mutually-desirable goals that cannot be obtained without the participation of two or more groups.
- negative functional interdependence = where the group believes the only way they can achieve their goal is if the other group fails to obtain their goal.
evidence
+ sherif found that boys would show favouritism for boys in their own group and hostility towards boys outside their group because of competition for a resource. this implies that there is some credibility to the theory.
- although this is a field experiment and arguably had good ecological validity, the paper tells how the boys needed some serious provocation in order to trigger any explicit display of prejudice and discrimination. therefore intergroup competition may not lead to hostility.
Jane Elliot would argue that the mere presence of groups creates prejudice, suggesting that realistic conflict theory is not a complete theory. she found that prejudice occurred by simply creating two groups and highlighting differences between them.
application
this theory is good at explaining prejudice as a result over a resource eg wars that occur over land.
- superordinate goals can be applied to combat prejudice and discrimination in the modern world. even small conflicts in work/ schools.
S/W
- reductionist because it does not take into account individual differences. eg some people are not prejudice and therefore would not respond to the pressures of a resource. for example, people with an authoritarian personality may be more likely to be prejudiced.
- only considers nurture as it focuses on environment - competition
as an explanation for prejudice
+ psychology as a science
the theory has supporting empirical evidence from sherifs experiment. the experiment is falsifiable as we are able to test it using operationalised hypotheses. this adds credibility to the theory.
alternative
- social identity theory would argue that prejudice occurs as a result of simply being part of a group and through social comparison prejudice is created.
