Sherif et al. (1954/1961) Flashcards
what was the aim of the study ?
to explore how competition and frustration of a group’s goals can lead to unfavourable stereotyping and prejudiced attitudes towards an outgroup, and encourage ingroup solidarity
what type of experiment was it ?
field experiment
what is an example of a dependent variable ?
number of friends identified in the outgroup
how many boys took part?
22
how old were the boys ?
11 years old
name four things (apart from age) that the boys all had in common (control variables)?
- middle class
- from Oklahoma
- protestant
- all socially and emotionally well-adjusted
what were the two groups called ?
- eagles
2. rattlers
what is a control for the groups’ abilities ?
each group comprised boys with equivalent abilities (such as IQ and sporting prowess)
what was required of the parents of the boys ?
- they had to give full consent (their doctors had to give full consent as well)
- parents had to pay a small fee for camp
- were asked not to visit
what were the three stages of the procedure?
- group formation
- friction
- reducing friction
what occurred in ‘group formation’ ?
- boys took part in non-competitive activities (bonding)
- activities included canoeing and tent pitching
- two eagles went home toward the end of the first week due to homesickness
what happened in ‘friction’ ?
- each group learnt of each other’s existence
- researchers created tournament with prizes (medals and trophies and pocket knives)
- contests included tug of war, baseball and tent pitching
- extra points awarded to comedy sketches and cabin inspection
what occurred in ‘reducing friction’ ?
- initial tasks involved increased levels of social contact (e.g. watching a film)
- then superordinate goals were introduced (e.g. mending a broken water supply and starting a broken-down truck)
findings from stage one ?
- groups named themselves ‘The Rattlers’ and ‘The Eagles’
- the rattlers were tougher and swore more
- eagles cried more when injured and were anti-swearing
findings from stage two ?
- on discovering each other, they wanted to challenge each other to a baseball game
- hostility grew rapidly from the beginning
- there was name-calling, fights and scuffles
- raided each other’s cabins
- only 6.4% of rattlers’ friends were eagles
- only 7.5% of eagles’ friends were rattlers
findings from stage three ?
- social contact and superordinate goals initially did nothing to reduce friction
- soon after fixing the water supply - insults were hurled at the other group
- but after getting the truck going, the boys all made dinner together and hostility was significantly reduced
- outgroup friendships increased
how did the the percentages change with outgroup friendships from the end of the second stage to the end of the third stage ?
- Rattlers’ outgroup friendships = 6.4% to 36.4%
- Eagles’ outgroup friendships = 7.5% to 23.2%
what were the conclusions of the study ?
- intergroup competition leads to increased ingroup favouritism and solidarity but also outgroup hostility
- increased social contact is not enough to reduce prejudice effectively
- the conclusions of this study led sherif to develop realistic conflict theory
Validity of study ?
- careful matching of the two groups improved the internal validity
- researchers spent over 300 hours observing, interviewing and testing ppts until finalising the 22
- allocated them carefully to ensure a match of personalities
- meant results could not be explained by pre-existing differences between the two groups
competing argument to validity ?
- two boys went home due to homesickness - both eagles-careful matching disintegrated after the first week
- gave rattlers an unfair advantage
- moreover the two groups had different personalities (rattlers swore and eagles didn’t)
- therefore the groups weren’t equal and so the internal validity was reduced
reliability of the study ?
- subsequent research by Andrew Tyerman and Christopher Spencer (1983) failed to replicate the findings
explain tyerman and Spencer (1983)
- tyerman was a sea scout
- studied his troop of 30 boys
- each belonged to one of four patrols
- they all knew each other well
- at their two-week annual camp, tyerman observed that in-group solidarity within each patrol did not increase - even decreased a little
- no hostility between patrols during competitions
what does tyerman and Spencer (1983) suggest ?
it suggests that competition only elicits prejudice when the people don’t know each other well
what is an application of the study ?
- can be applied to reducing prejudice in society, using the idea of superordinate goals
- Aronson and Bridgeman (1979) used sheriff’s superordinate goals to develop the jigsaw classroom (made to reduce racism in American schools)
- students had to work together to take responsibility for a different part of a project
- end result was an increased liking and empathy for outgroup members and improved performance for black minority students
