Chapter 14

Conflict experts such as Kelman suggest managing conflict by...

...teaching group members the skills they need to resolve interpersonal disputes.

How can intergroup relations be improved?

1. The Sherifs' first, relatively unsuccessful attempt to reduce conflict was based on the contact hypothesis. 2. Pettigrew and Tropp, using meta-analysis, concluded that contact is an effective means of reducing conflict.

CB: Linguistic intergroup bias

Actions performed by the ingroup are described differently than actions performed by the outgroup.

Double-standard thinking

Double-standard thinking, as described by White, occurs when group members frame the behaviors and characteristics of the ingroup in more positively than these same behaviors and characteristics displayed by the outgroup.

CB: Group attribution error

Group decisions are assumed to reflect individual group members' attitudes, irrespective of the particular procedures used in making the decisions.

CB: Ultimate attribution error

Group members attribute the negative behaviors performed by outgroup members to internal dispositions, but their positive behaviors are explained away as situationally caused aberrations.

Insko's generational studies

Groups exploit other groups both economically and coercively, but Insko's generational studies suggest that coercive influence is associated with greater increases in conflict.

Implicit measures of bias

Implicit measures of bias, such as the Implicit Association Test (IAT) developed by Greenwald and his colleagues, can detect subtle, unconscious forms of bias.

Ingroup favoritism vs. outgroup rejection

Ingroup favoritism tends to be stronger than outgroup rejection, but both forms of ingroup-outgroup bias emerged at Robbers Cave.

Intergroup conflict and instinct

Intergroup conflict may be instinctive—the result of evolutionary pressures that favored individuals who preferred ingroup members over outgroup members.

Intergroup conflict

Intergroup conflict, like intragroup conflict, tends to escalate over time. Both the norm of reciprocity and the use of contentious influence tactics stimulate conflict spirals.

normative processes

Involve values and norms about how things should be done. Normative processes instigate and sustain conflict.

CB: Stereotypes

Lippmann coined the word stereotypes to describe cognitive generalizations about the qualities and characteristics of the members of a particular group or social category. The stereotype content model suggests that the contents of most stereotypes reflect judgments of the outgroup's competence and warmth.

Ingroup-outgroup bias and ethnocentrism

Members tend to favor the ingroup over the outgroup (the ingroup-outgroup bias). This bias, when applied to larger groups such as tribes or nations, was labeled ethnocentrism by Sumner.

Decategorization

Reducing social categorization tendencies by minimizing the salience of group memberships and stressing the individuality of each person in the group. Encourages members to recognize the individuality of the outgroup members.

School-based conflict management programs

School-based conflict management programs liked those developed by Johnson and Johnson are designed to reduce conflict between groups by teaching students to recognize conflict, communicate about the source of the conflict, and identify mutually acceptable solutions.

The extended contact hypothesis (Wright et.al.)

Studies of the extended contact hypothesis posited by Wright and others suggest that encouraging the development of cross-group friendship relations reduces prejudice.

Subgroups and norms on violence

Subgroups within the large cultural context may adopt unique norms pertaining to violence. Work by Nisbett, Cohen, and their colleagues suggests that in the South of the United States men tend to respond more aggressively to threat.

CB: Law of small numbers

The behaviors and characteristics exhibited by a small number of outgroup members are generalized to all members of the outgroup.

Group hostility and culture

The extent to which groups respond in hostile ways to other groups varies from culture to culture, with some cultures eschewing intergroup conflict and others (such as the "fierce" Yanomanö studied by Chagnon) accepting it routinely.

contact hypothesis

The idea that stereotypes and prejudice toward a group will diminish as contact with the group increases.

CB: Outgroup homogeneity bias

The outgroup is assumed to be much more homogeneous than the ingroup. Members assume that their own group is diverse and heterogeneous, although when the group is threatened, members may exaggerate the similarity of everyone in their group.

Aronson's jigsaw method

an educational intervention that reduces prejudice by assigning students from different racial or ethnic groups to a single learning group.

realistic group conflict theory

assumes conflict occurs because groups must compete with one another for scarce resources. ■ The heightened competitiveness of groups is known as the DISCONTINUITY EFFECT. ■ Research by Insko and his colleagues suggests the effect is due to individuals' desire to maximise PROFITS (greed), DISTRUST OF GROUPS (fear), GROUP LOYALTY, and the LACK OF IDENTIFIABILITY. Limiting these tendencies can work to reduce the aggressiveness of groups.

Negative emotional reactions

can trigger anti-outgroup reactions. Scapegoat theory explains why groups that experience setbacks sometimes fight other, more defenseless groups.

The common ingroup identity model

developed by Gaertner and Dovidio suggests that recategorization—collapsing the boundaries between groups—reduces conflict yet can promote the retention of identities. The common-enemy approach is an example of recategorization.

Social dominance theory

developed by Sidanius and Pratto, examines tensions between hierarchically ranked groups in society. Individuals who are high in social dominance orientation are more likely to prefer allocations that benefit their group relative to other groups.

The Robbers Cave Experiment

experiment which showed that even arbitrary group distinctions (camp teams) can cause a bitter rivalry and discrimination, thus demonstrating in-group/out-group biases. Muzafer and Carolyn Sherif and their colleagues' carried out the Robbers Cave Experiment to identify the causes of intergroup conflict.

Devine's studies of stereotypic thinking

indicate that even though individuals may be aware of the contents of stereotypes pertaining to outgroups, they can learn to control the impact of this biased cognitive response on their judgments.

Social categorization

leads perceivers to classify people into two mutually exclusive groups—the ingroup and the outgroup. Individuals in Tajfel and Turner's minimal intergroup situation displayed the ingroup-outgroup bias, leading them to conclude that social categorization may be sufficient to create conflict.

Conflict increases when...

one group attempts to dominate and exploit another group, and the target group resists exploitation.

Cognitive approaches to conflict reduction

seek to reverse the negative biases that follow from parsing individuals into ingroups and outgroups.

superordinate goals

shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation

Social identity theory

suggests that individuals, by championing the ingroup, maintain and even raise their self-esteem.

cross-categorization

the realization that you share a group membership with people from a disliked out-group involves making salient multiple group memberships.

When conflicts become more intense, members may display more extreme emotional reactions to outgroups.

■ In addition to a generalized negative reaction to the outgroup, individuals may also experience SPECIFIC EMOTIONS, such as envy, contempt, pity, and admiration, depending on their stereotypes about the outgroup. ■ As Allport observed, HATRED tends to be directed at groups rather than individuals. ■ Extreme conflict can result in both MORAL EXCLUSION and DEHUMANISATION of members of the outgroup. Dehumanized individuals evoke a different reaction, at the neurological level, than those who are not dehumanized, and Bandura's research indicates that a group is likely to be treated more negatively when described as "animalistic."

During intergroup conflict, group members' judgments are often distorted by a number of cognitive biases:

■ Outgroup homogeneity bias ■ Law of small numbers ■ Group attribution error. ■ Ultimate attribution error ■ Linguistic intergroup bias ■ Stereotypes

contact

■ The effectiveness of contact increases in more POSITIVE CONTEXTS; ones that include the elements identified by Clark and his colleagues. Contact is more effective when it creates COOPERATION between the groups, when participants are EQUAL IN STATUS, when interaction is intimate enough to sustain the development of FRIENDSHIPS across the groups, and when NORMS encourage cooperation. ■ Contact is more effective when it creates extensive opportunities for INTERACTION, as in sports and work settings rather than tourist settings. ■ The Sherifs successfully reduced conflict in the Robbers Cave camp by prompting the boys to work toward SUPERORDINATE GOALS.