Soc 319: Sociological Approaches to Social Psych

Intergroup ConflictApril 14, 2009

A. Intergroup Conflict: Actual conflict

1. Definition: conflict is the result of direct competition over resources a. Historical data b. Experimental data

i. Sherif Robber’s Cave study.

B. How do groups differentiate themselves from one another? 1. Minimal group

a. Tajfel studies

No social interaction between groupsNo shared goals

Participants unaware of others’ group membership

2. Social identity theory a. Studies of ethnic identity and language

(e.g., Brown, 1988)

It’s difficult to differentiate “realistic” group conflict from perceived conflict To Die in Jerusalem

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUuBNdUP6ZA&feature=related

C. How do groups perceive others?

1. Biased perceptions Stereotypic distortion (Park & Rothbart, 1982) Biased evaluation (Hastorf & Cantril, 1954)

2. Person perception (a review) Stereotype: Belief about a group of people Prejudice: Negative pre-judgment of a group and its

individual membershttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNXsRJgOTmk Discrimination: Negative behavior toward individual

members of a group, based on a negative pre-judgment of that group

These processes are very resistant to change!

“They saw a game”(Hastorf & Cantril, 1954)

versus

D. Do prejudiced personality “types” exist?

Personality: authoritarianism (Adorno) need for status (Grube; Crocker)

Some Items From the F Scale

1. Obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues childrenshould learn

2. Science has its place, but there are many important things that can neverpossibly be understood by the human mind

3. What this country needs most, more than laws and political programs, are afew courageous, tireless, devoted leaders in whom the people can put theirfaith.

4. No sane, normal, decent person could ever think of hurting a clsoe friend orrelative.

5. Sex crimes, such as rape and attacks on children, deserve more than mereimprisonment; such criminals ought to be publicly whipped, or worse.

6. Homosexuals are hardly better than criminals and ought to be servelypunished,

Authoritarian personality (Adorno)

E. Resolution of Intergroup Conflict? Superordinate goal (Sherif)

e.g. post-911; rebuilding LA post-riots Intergroup contact

Mere contact? Equal status contact (Stouffer et al.)

Implications for policy re: education, residential and employment segregation?

Example: Brown v. Board of Ed (1953) Example: affirmative action policy?

Recategorization (Gaertner) Is this realistic, given literature on person perception

and schema rigidity?

Rebuilding L.A. after the riots

Changing racial attitudes over time

Racial residential segregation: % who would need to move for neighborhoods to be racially representative/balanced

Education in U.S., pre-Brown v. Board of Education (1954)