Chapter 12: Intergroup Conflict

How does aversive events provoke hostilities between groups?

An aversive event is a behavioral episode episode caused by or attributed to an out-group that entails undesirable outcomes for members of an in-group. Based on the general frustration hypothesis. Other aversive stimuli like temperature and crowding can also evoke hostility.

Which of the following is an outcome of within group processes for groups engaged in intergroup conflict?

group members may take on new roles and tasks that result in the redistribution of status and rewards within the group

______________ occurs when groups exhibit opposing and antagonistic actions towards one another in order to influence outcomes over matters considered important to each group.

intergroup conflict

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva's theory of Color Blind racism: abstract liberalism, naturalization, cultural racism, minimization of racism. Identify meaning of each

-Abstract liberalism- ideas associated with political liberalism- 'equal opportunity' -Naturalization- natural occurrence (ex. Segregation is natural because people from the same backgrounds gravitate towards each other) -Cultural Racism- relies on culturally based arguments -Minimization of racism- suggests discrimination is no longer a central factor affecting minorities To demonstrate this, Bonilla-Silva points to a common occurrence in his own life when he visits retail outlets. He says that as soon as he enters one of these places, employees immediately flock to him with their pseudo-smiles and queries of: "can I help you?" "As soon as I am finished telling one of them 'no thanks, I'm just looking" he continues, "immediately, another one is there again. Can I help you, can I help you, can I help you?" Bonilla-Silva's parable shows how for many minorities, their lives are looked at under a scrutiny that a Caucasian person would not experience. To silence naysayers who believe that he is imagining racism because of his specialty, Bonilla-Silva has recently started using the simple reply, "Can I help you?" at which point, the person usually becomes very uncomfortable, often stammering: "I didn't mean it like that." "Well, the fact that that is your reply, means that you did," replies Bonilla-Silva. Many of these problems stems from what Bonilla-Silva refers to as "color-blindness" or the modern trend of individuals and communities acting as though they cannot "see" race (examples of this include race-blind college admissions or job hiring). Bonilla-Silva criticizes this term because, as he says, "it assumes that we live in a post-race world when this is not really the case. Instead, Bonilla-Silva claims that we should be embracing race as a way to examine social conventions and seeking to understand racism so that it can be minimized.

What is the impact of conflict on within group processes?

-Conflict increases the level of cohesion if the in-group as members increase their commitment and unite to face a common adversary. -Conflict may produce rivalry for leadership among in-group members, and this rivalry can produce more militant leadership -Conflict often changes the normative structure of the in-group. Standards of fairness may shift as the in-group reorders its priorities to achieve a strategic advantage in the conflict. -Conflict often increases the pressure on in-group members to conform and lessens the majority's tolerance of dissenters.

According to the text, what are the factors that contribute to intergroup conflict?

-Groups often have opposing interests that prevent them from achieving their goals simultaneously, leading to friction, hostility, and overt conflict. -A high level of in-group identification, accompanied by ethnocentric attitudes, may create discrimination between groups, which escalates conflict. -One group, by threatening or depriving another, may create an aversive event that turns submerged antagonism into overt conflict

What is a mediator, arbitrator?

-Mediator- Any third party who serves as a go-between and who helps groups in conflict to identify issues and to agree on some resolution. Mediation is defined as the attempt to settle a dispute through a neutral third party. Mediation is a structured process that allows people to negotiate the issues with a hands-on approach. The mediator serves somewhat as a referee as the parties exchange information, needs, and ideas. The mediator also helps the parties with the bargaining process, where cooler heads prevail. Mediation is commonly used in family law matters, such as divorce and child custody, but it is also used in other civil cases. -Facilitative Mediation Facilitative mediation, the original mediation technique, entails the setting up of a very structured process to help the parties reach an agreement. The mediator asks questions, determines the interests and needs of the parties, validates their needs, and helps them normalize their points of view. With this technique, recommendations by the mediator are not made, nor does the mediator offer an opinion as to how a court might rule. Evaluative Mediation This technique is based on the settlement conferences held by judges. The mediator using the evaluative mediation technique informs each party as to the weak points of their case or position, giving a professional opinion as to how a judge is likely to rule on the matter. In evaluative mediation, the focus is on the legal concepts of fairness, and the legal rights of the parties, rather than on their individual interests and desires. The parties do not meet together in this type of mediation, but the mediator goes back and forth between the parties, presenting needs, concerns, and offers. This helps avoid emotional conflict that would otherwise enter the discussions. Transformative Mediation This newest technique in mediation originated in the 1990s. Transformative mediation works to empower the parties, recognizing their needs, values, and points of view. Mediators using this technique encourage each party to think about the opposing party's point of view and their interests, as well as their own. This requires the parties to meet together, with the mediator guiding the conversation, and encouraging the parties to work toward a positive outcome, not allowing them to get sidetracked in largely unimportant issues. -Arbitrator- Listens to arguments from conflicting parties and then makes a decision that is binding on the conflicting groups. Arbitration cannot be instigated by only one party to the dispute. Both parties need to agree to the process -Arbitration, on the other hand, may involve a single arbitrator, or a panel of 3-12 arbitrators, who hear the case much like a judge would. Arbitrators collect information and evidenced, question the parties, and advise the parties when there is a problem with their position. An arbitrator provides a written decision a few days after the arbitration has concluded, and in the case of a panel of arbitrators, the decision depends on a majority vote. Arbitration may be binding or non-binding. -Hearing - A proceeding before the court at which an issue of fact or law is heard, evidence presented, and a decision made. Jurisdiction - The legal authority to hear legal cases and make judgments; the geographical region of authority to enforce justice. Litigation - The process of taking legal action; the process of suing someone, or trying them for a criminal act.

What is redlining and blockbusting? Why is Levittown important?

-Redlining is the practice of denying services, either directly or through selectively raising prices, to residents of certain areas based on the racial or ethnic composition of those areas. -Blockbusting- An illegal practice in which licensees or others encourage homeowners to sell because of an influx or expected influx of minorities into the area. -Levittown- Attempted to redline by getting all minorities out of the community. Lease agreement refused houses to non-whites. Levittown was about more than just the houses. As the largest and most influential housing development of its time, it became a postwar poster child for everything right (affordability, better standard of living) and wrong (architectural monotony, poor planning, racism) with suburbia.

What are the strategies to reduce intergroup conflict

-Superordinate goals- An objective held in common by all groups in a conflict that cannot be achieved by any one group without the supportive efforts of the others -Intergroup Contact Hypothesis- An increase in communication between members of opposing groups will reduce intergroup conflict. Increased contact should lessen stereotypes and reduce bias and lessen antagonism between groups. -Equal Status Contact- equal-status contact is a person or group who has a similar background, history, social role, and education. This is a concept of the contact hypothesis which is a theory regarding how best to improve relations between groups that display hostility towards each other. -Institutionally Supported Contact- Intergroup contact is more likely to reduce stereotyping and create favorable attitudes if it is backed by social norms that promote equality among groups.

realistic group conflict theory

-When groups are pursuing objectives in which a gain by one group necessarily results in a loss by the other, they have what is called an opposition of interest. -This opposition of interest causes members of each group to experience frustration and to develop antagonistic attitudes towards the other group. -As members of one group develop negative attitudes and unfavorable perceptions about members of the other group, they become more strongly identified with and attached to their own group. -As solidarity and and cohesion within each group increases, the likelihood of overt conflict between groups increases, and even a slight provocation can trigger direct action by one group against another.

the social identity theory of intergroup conflict

Assumes that individuals want to hold a positive self-concept. Has two components: personal identity and social identity. -The social identity component depends primarily on the groups or social categories to which one belongs and we compare it with other groups -The desire to maintain a positive self-concept creates pressure to evaluate one's own group positively. When an individual is assigned to a group, they will have higher self-esteem because they believe their group is the best. Will allocate money to members of their group

Ethnocentrism, opposition of interest (RGC)*

Ethnocentrism- The tendency to regard one's own group as the center of everything and as superior to out-groups Ethnocentrism is a major reason for divisions amongst members of different ethnicities, races, and religious groups in society. To solidify the definition of ethnocentrism, looking at the present day politics of the United States is helpful. With instances occuring since its conception, the United States has often thought of itself as more powerful, more economically sound, and just generally "better" than other nations. This has been shown by the country's tendency to dabble in situations occuring in other nations, such as the country's current involvement with affairs in the Middle East.

What is the "group position model"?

Herbert Blumer's (1958)- prejudice is a collective process - racial group defines another racial group -Four elements of in-groups sense of position: Group Identity Out-group stereotyping Preferred Group Status Perceived threat Leaders play a role in shaping public discourse-also called 'public reason Argued that prejudice is a group phenomenon rather than an individual's attribute, because it describes a group characteristic (race) o Prejudicial attitudes reflect a group's relative position in society

What is the Illusion of out-group homogeneity? How does it affect intergroup conflict?*

Illusion of out-group homogeneity- Although in-group members perceive and appreciate the diversity within the in-group, they tend to perceive the out-group members as "all-alike". Sarah and Janet are a part of the same ingroup, a group that a person is a loyal member of and strongly identifies with. Sarah and Janet are both women (ingroup) and volleyball players (ingroup). Once people identify themselves as belonging to an ingroup, they start to perceive differences between the ingroup members and the members of other groups. Everyone who is not a part of the ingroup belongs to an outgroup, a group that a person has no loyalty to and is not a member of. Since Sarah and Janet are both women, an outgroup for them is men. Since Mike is a man, he would be a part of the outgroup from Sarah and Janet's perspective. So what is outgroup homogeneity? Simply put, it is the tendency for us to view members of outgroups as being more similar, or homogeneous, than members of ingroups that we belong to. Let's look at Sarah's statement more closely. Sarah perceives that men (an outgroup) are all the same; however, women (ingroup) are different. This is an example of outgroup homogeneity.

Muzafer Sherif's Robber's Cave study had three stages. What were the objectives of each stage?*

Stage 1: In group formation Stage 2: Group competition Stage 3: In group formation His main contribution is known as Realistic Conflict Theory, and accounts for group conflict, negative prejudices, and stereotypes as being the result of competition between groups for desired resources. This classic study of intergroup conflict and cooperation demonstrated how groups strongly favor their own members (ingroup bias), and how intergroup conflict can be resolved by the groups working together on a common task that neither group can complete without the help of the other group. The experimenters took two groups of 11- and 12-year-old boys (the kids gave themselves the group names the "Rattlers" and the "Eagles") to what they thought was a summer camp. For the first week (stage 1), the two groups of boys were separated and did not know about each other. During this time, the boys bonded with the other boys in their group. Then, they were introduced to each other (stage 2), and immediately the name calling began. To see if conflict would increase, the experimenters created competitions between the groups and the conflict which included hostility, derogation, and aggressive behavior toward the other groups did increase as predicted (Yzerbyt & Demoulin, 2010). In the third week (stage 3), the experimenters created conditions that required both groups to work together solving a common problem. One example was the drinking water problem. The kids were under the impression that their drinking water was cut off possibly due to vandals. Both groups worked together to solve the problem.

What are soft skill jobs and the assumptions about race, class, spatial discrimination?*

Suburbanization of jobs: Lack of transportation "Soft-Skills: Make assumptions based on race, class, spatial discrimination Some of the most common soft skills employers are looking for and will be assessing you on include: Strong Work Ethic. ... Positive Attitude. ... Good Communication Skills. ... Time Management Abilities. ... Problem-Solving Skills. ... Acting as a Team Player. ... Self-Confidence. ... Ability to Accept and Learn From Criticism. jobs that require no more than a high school education. They assert that technological changes and a greater emphasis on customer service are leading employers to demand workers who possess "soft skills," such as the ability to interact well with customers, to work with a team, and to bring punctuality, steady attendance, and good grooming and attire into the workplace. And the authors find the rising importance of soft skills troubling, because any assessment of them is inherently subjective and opens the door to stereotypes and bias.

What is the ultimate attribution error?

When a member of our own in-group behaves in a positive or desirable manner, we are likely to attribute that behavior to the member's internal, stable characteristics. If that person behaves in a negative or undesirable manner, we will tend to attribute it to unstable, external factors. We display the opposite bias on people in out-groups

Which of the following is NOT a reason that intergroup conflict persists?

a. superordinate goals ***Correct*** b. illusion of out-group homogeneity c. biased evaluation of in-group performance relative to out-group performance d. reliance on stereotypes

Which of the following is NOT a part of the intergroup contact hypothesis?

a. sustained close contact b. equal-status contact c. institutionally supported contact d. mediation ***Correct***

A(n) ___________________ is a behavioral episode caused by or attributed to an out-group that entails undesirable outcomes for members of an in-group.

aversive event

The tendency to regard one's own group as the center of everything and as superior to out-groups is known as:

ethnocentrism

Which of the following can help resolve group conflict?

if the two groups recognize a shared goal that requires supportive efforts from both groups

Opposition of interest - defined as a conflict in interests whereby one group gains, but another group loses should an objective be realized - is a basic proposition of which theory?

realistic group conflict theory

_________________ suggests that intergroup conflict is a result of individuals wanting to maintain a positive self-concept, and thus evaluating one's in-group positively and an out-group negatively.

social identity theory of intergroup behavior

Jennifer is a high school cheerleader for Southside High. Recently, she and her teammates competed in a cheerleading competition. Southside High cheerleaders tied for 2nd place with their rivals from Northside High. Jennifer thinks that her team achieved second place because of their hard work, but she thinks that the only reason Northside High earned a second place is because they got lucky. Jennifer's attitude demonstrates:

ultimate attribution error