Lecture 8 - Intergroup Relations and Conflict Flashcards
(38 cards)
What is intergroup behaviour?
“Any perception, cognition or behaviour that is influenced by people’s recognition that they and others are members of distinct social groups is intergroup behaviour” (Hogg & Vaughan, 2014, p.402)
What is the in-group?
Any social group which we feel a sense of belonging/investment/identify with
What is the out-group?
Alternative groups we don’t have a sense of investment/belonging to
What potential negative consequences could come from being in a group?
E.g. conflict and prejudice
What is relative deprivation?
A motivational account which explains intergroup competition/conflict as caused by a sense of having less than we feel entitled to
Perceived gap between expectations or entitlements (‘what ought to be’) and attainments (‘what is’)
Is deprivation absolute?
No, it is relative to other conditions
How does relative deprivation relate to intergroup aggression?
It is a crucial precondition for intergroup aggression (Walker & Smith, 2002)
What did Berkowitz (1962) suggest intergroup prejudice and discriminatory behaviour was a function of?
(1) Aversive events e.g. subjective frustration
(2) Aggressive associations e.g. situational cues, past associations
Leads to collective violence
What is an example of collective violence?
1965 LA riots
Relative deprivation caused frustration, which was amplified by aversive environmental conditions (e.g. heatwave)
Individual acts of aggression were exacerbated by aggressive stimuli (e.g. armed police)
Aggression became more widespread and assumed role of dominant response
Aggression spread rapidly through social facilitation processes, resulting in collective violence
Who made a distinction between two types of relative deprivation?
Runciman (1966)
What is egoistic relative deprivation?
Feeling of having less than we feel we are entitled to
Relative to our personal aspirations/experiences or to other individuals
E.g. a colleague getting a promotion over you
What is fraternalistic relative deprivation?
Sense that our group has less than it is entitled to
Relative to the collective aspirations or other groups
Associated with social unrest
What is realistic conflict theory (Sherif, 1966)?
Where groups compete over scarce resources, intergroup relations become marked by conflict & ethnocentrism arises (Hogg & Vaughan, 2014, p.408)
What is ethnocentrism?
“View of things in which one’s own group is at the centre of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it…” (Sumner, 1906, p. 13)
Evaluative preference for all aspects of own group relative to other groups
Resources e.g. tangible (land), economic (access to jobs), conceptual (power)
What are Sherif’s summer camp studies?
Children invited to summer camp (actually a field experiment)
Four phases:
(1) Spontaneous friendship formation
(2) In-group and norm formation (ensure not a function of likeness)
(3) Intergroup competition
(4) Intergroup cooperation
Describe phase 1 (spontaneous friendship formation) of Sherif’s summer camp studies
Arrived at camp
Engaged in various activities, friendships formed
Describe stage 2 (in-group and norm formation) of Sherif’s summer camp studies
Camp divided into two groups, friendships split
Groups isolated, separate living quarters and daily activities, developed norms and status differences
Describe phase 3 (intergroup competition) in Sherif’s summer camp studies
Introduction of competitive games between the groups -> competition and intergroup hostility
Ethnocentric attitudes and behaviour amplified
Majority of intergroup encounters degenerated into intergroup hostility
Intergroup relations deteriorated -> two of the experiments concluded at this stage
Describe phase 4 (intergroup cooperation) in Sherif’s summer camp studies
Groups provided with superordinate goals (goals desired by two groups but can only be achieved if the two groups work together)
Groups had to work together in cooperation e.g. superordinate goal = everyone needed to help with broken down truck
Cooperation between the groups to achieve superordinate goal lead to a reduction in intergroup conflict
What determines relations between groups in the realistic conflict theory?
The nature of the goals
What happens as a result of mutually exclusive goals between groups?
Realistic intergroup conflict and ethnocentrism
What happens as a result of shared (superordinate) goals?
Cooperation and reduction in conflict
What is a limitation of realistic conflict theory?
It cannot explain why intergroup conflict occurs in the absence of a competitive situation
What may realistic conflict theory be useful for?
Studying conflict in applied settings
