robbers cave experiment Flashcards
what was aim of the robbers cave experiment
to look at how conflict developed between groups
what was the hypothesis for the robbers cave experiment
intergroup conflict occurs when two groups are in comeptition for limited resources
what was the sampling method
- the sample consisted of of 22 white male boy who were aged aorund 12 and all came form the same background.
- there were 3 phases to the experiment: int group formation, intergroup conflict and conflict reduction
describe ehat happened in the in group formation phase (phase 1)
the groups were matched into groups based on personality, IQ, sports, skills and interests. there were two groups (eagles and rattlers), in these groups over the first week they will particiapte in group binding activites that will build cooperation
describe what happened in the intergroup formation
druing this stage the two groups were bought into contact with eachother and competeted in challenges such as tug of war where they competed for parts of territoiry. this stage was designed to bring the grooups into comeptition with eachother. At first prejudice was only expressed through name calling and taunting, but as the weeks went on the prejudice becameexpressed in more physical ways e.g. the boys trashed eachothers dorm room
describe what happened in the conflict reduction phase of the study
this phase aimed to redcue conflict and lower violence ebtween groups. They beleived that superodinate goals would do this. e.g. movie night