Classic Sherif 1954 Flashcards
(13 cards)
aim of sherif 1954
investigate intergroup relations, the formation of prejudice and how superordinate goals can reduce conflict
sample of sherif 1954
22 11-year-old boys from protestant homes Oklahoma, America at Robber’s Cave Summer Camp
- screened to eliminate problems at home
- matched on emotional stability, sporting ability and IQ
procedure of stage 1 of sherif 1954
- participant observer watched boys for 12 hours each day
- boys placed in two groups without meeting beforehand, kept separate for a week
- had to work together on common goals like prepping meals to bond
- 2 boys left the study in this stage so one group had 9 instead of 11
procedure of stage 2 of sherif 1954
- friction stage where the 2 groups were introduced, as soon as they found out about each other they became competitive
- tournament set up to introduce competition
- one task was collecting beans and then boys had to estimate how many beans their group and the other group collected
- other tasks to create frustration like inviting one group late to a picnic and tug of war or baseball
procedure of stage 3 of sherif 1954
- integration phase where superordinate goals were introduced
- began as communicating, then little staff supervision, then urgent goal was introduced
- one was shutting off water supply and placing two boulders over it for groups to fix together
- another was working together to get bus moving to go on a trip to Cedar Lake
- gathered numerical data from sociometric analysis
qualitative results of sherif 1954
- established hierarchies toward end of week 1
- when told about other group, Rattlers grew derogatory and Eagles grew competitive
- name calling then violence e.g. burning other teams flags and stereotypes so increasing social contact didn’t result in positive social interactions
- abusive language was reduced with goals, prepped meals and sat around campfire by end
quantitative results of sherif 1954
out group friendships of RATTLERS from S2 to S3 = 6.4% to 36.4%
out group friendships of EAGLES from S2 to S3 = 7.5% to 23.2%
conclusions of sherif 1954
- in-group favouritism and out-group hostility are created when competition was involved
- people overestimate the ability of their social group
- when groups work together towards a superordinate goalfriction is reduced
generalisability of sherif 1954
Low
- androcentric and ethnocentric
- use of 11 year old boys from Oklahoma means results cannot be generalised to a wider society of other ages, cultures or genders
- however the narrow sample ensured competition caused conflict, not individual differences that could become confounding variables like gender or culture
reliability of sherif 1954
High
- used a standardised procedure and tasks such as the 3 stages and tasks like estimating beans collected by out-group in S2 and fixing the water supply in S3
- this makes the study replicable, meaning other researchers such as in the UK Boy Scouts study can repeat the procedure to test consistency of findings
Low
- some tasks that the boys came up with such as playing baseball when they were first introduced were difficult to standardise
validity of sherif 1954
High
- internal validity as multiple data collection methods were used such as sociometric analysis, tape recordings, questionnaires and standardised tasks e.g. bean collecting task showed underestimation of out-group achievement
- internal validity due to the matched pairs design on IQ, sporting ability and emotional stability - ensured competition caused conflict, not individual differences that could become confounding variables like gender or culture
- ecological validity, field experiment reduces demand characteristics so boys behaved naturally
Low
- cross-cultural replications suggest low external validity, UK Boy Scouts study couldn’t create intergroup hostility, suggesting that the Scout’s social norm of cooperation was unaffected by manipulations
ethics of sherif 1954
Fair
- right to withdraw was practised as 2 boys left the study during S1 due to homesickness
Low
- parents were asked not to visit which was sensitive because the researchers were deliberately creating a hostile environment so parents couldn’t protect children from harm
- boys were unaware of the non-participant observer and being recorded so they were deceived
application of sherif 1954
- explain atrocities such as genocide in Rwanda where there is deep rooted conflict between the Hutus and Tutis
- can assist with mitigating conflict in schools, politics and businesses
