group dynamics final

Conflict

Disagreement, discord, and friction arising when actions or beliefs of group members are unacceptable and resisted by others.

Winning

Competition versus cooperation.

Sharing

Conflict over resource allocation.

Controlling

Conflict over power dynamics.

Working

Task and process conflicts.

Liking & Disliking

Relationship conflicts.

Cooperation

Each member's success increases the success of other members.

Competition

Success depends on outperforming others.

Mixed-Motive Situations

Situations where cooperation or competition depends on various factors.

Prisoner's Dilemma Game (PDG)

Demonstrates mixed-motive conflict.

Social Value Orientation (SVO)

Individualists focus solely on their own outcomes; Competitors aim to maximize their own outcomes and minimize others'; Altruists are motivated to help others, even at their own expense; Cooperators seek to maximize both their own and others' outcomes.

Commons Dilemmas

Occur when individuals take too much from a shared resource.

Public Goods Dilemmas

Involve free-riding, where people benefit from a public good without contributing.

Fairness Dilemmas

Concern procedural and distributive justice.

Responsibility Dilemmas

Involve questions of blame for failure and credit for success.

Task Conflict

Disagreements over issues relevant to the group's goals and procedures.

Process Conflict

Disagreement over methods used to complete tasks.

Relationship Conflict

Interpersonal discord due to dislike among members.

Negative Reciprocity

Stronger than positive reciprocity.

Behavioral Assimilation

Group members eventually match behaviors displayed by others.

Gender Differences in Competitiveness

Variations in competitive behavior based on gender.

Impact of High Stakes on Cooperation

Influence of significant consequences on collaborative behavior.

Debate over Competition versus Cooperation in Education

Discussion regarding the effects of competition and cooperation on academic performance.

Proximity

Physical or psychological distance.

Elaboration

Sharing more about oneself.

Similarity

Having common traits.

Complementarity

Having different traits that work well together.

Reciprocity

Mutual exchange.

The Minimax Principle

Minimizing losses and maximizing gains in relationships.

Balance theory

Members react negatively to disagreements with those they like and agreements with those they dislike.

Conflict escalation

Conflicts escalate through uncertainty leading to commitment, perception transforming into misperception, soft tactics evolving into hard tactics, reciprocity turning into retaliation, irritation growing into anger, and few members becoming many.

Reactance

Emotional/cognitive reaction to feeling freedom of choice is threatened.

Misperception

Escalation distorts perceptions, inflaming conflict.

Misattribution

Attributing others' actions to their personality rather than situational factors.

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

Misperceiving others' motives based on Social Value Orientation (SVO).

Soft Tactics

Conflict intensifies as influence methods become tougher.

Hard Tactics

Tactics that are more aggressive and confrontational in nature.

Negative reciprocity

Escalates conflict: Harm is reciprocated.

Anger

Triggers rejection of concessions, unworkable offers, and contentious strategies.

Coalitions

Groups that shift power balances, sometimes illicitly, forming alliances against others.

Distributive negotiation

Dividing resources through hard bargaining.

Integrative negotiation

Finding mutually satisfying solutions by addressing underlying issues.

Harvard Negotiation Project

Advocates principled, integrative negotiation over soft or hard bargaining.

Dual concern model

Identifies means of dealing with conflicts—avoiding, yielding, fighting, cooperating—differing along concern for self and others.

*** for tat (TFT)

A bargaining strategy that begins with cooperation, but then imitates the other person's choice.

Anger management techniques

Control anger by calling a timeout or counting to ten.

Mediation

A process where a third-party mediator helps members reach solutions in a conflict.

Inquisitorial

A type of conflict resolution where the mediator actively investigates the dispute.

Arbitration

A conflict resolution process where a neutral third party makes a binding decision.

Moot

A type of debate or discussion that is hypothetical and not intended to resolve a real dispute.

Intergroup Conflict

Conflict that arises between different groups, often involving competition and hostility.

Robbers Cave Experiment

A study by Muzafer Sherif observing intergroup relations at a summer camp with two competing groups.

Realistic Group Conflict Theory (RGC)

A theory stating that groups compete for limited resources, leading to conflict.

Discontinuity Effect

The phenomenon where people are more competitive in groups than as individuals.

Prisoner's Dilemma Game (PDG)

A research method used to study competitive versus cooperative behavior in groups.

Social Dominance Theory

A theory explaining social dynamics in hierarchically organized groups.

Norm of Reciprocity

A social norm where groups respond to threats and aggression in kind.

Scapegoating

Redirecting conflict from one group to another when direct aggression is not possible.

Cultural Norms

The varying responses to conflict that differ across cultures.

Anger and Retaliation

Emotional mechanisms that can trigger impulsive intergroup aggression.

Upward Spiral Model of Conflict

A model illustrating how conflicts can intensify over time.

Greed

A motivational factor behind the discontinuity effect in intergroup conflict.

Fear

A motivational factor that can contribute to increased competition in groups.

Identity

A motivational factor correlated with collectivism that influences group behavior.

Low Identifiability

A factor that can lead to increased competition and conflict in groups.

Responsibility

A factor that, when low, can contribute to competitive behavior in groups.

Sidanius & Pratto, 1999

Researchers who contributed to the development of Social Dominance Theory.

Ho et al., 2015

Researchers who developed the Social Dominance Scale.

Hobbes

Life is 'nasty, brutish, and short.'

Rousseau

The 'noble savage.'

Human Violence

Human societies tend to be violent, but Fry suggests peaceful coexistence is possible based on cross-cultural findings.

Evolutionary Theory

Suggests confronting other groups was adaptive historically.

Intergroup Relations

Were rarely peaceful.

Ingroup Preference

Evolutionary pressures favored ingroup preference.

Outgroup Violence

Reinforced ingroup solidarity.

Intergroup Rejection

More pronounced for male members of the outgroup.

Minimal Intergroup Situation

Groups based on trivial factors (e.g., art preferences).

Ingroup Favoritism

Triggered by mere perception of belonging to distinct groups (social categorization).

Cognitive Biases

Reinforce negative reactions to outgroups and ingroup favoritism.

Outgroup Homogeneity Bias

Tendency to perceive members of other groups as more similar to each other than members of one's own group.

Group Attribution Error

Mistakenly assuming individual group members' characteristics reflect the entire group's preferences.

Ultimate Attribution Error

Attributing negative actions by outgroup members to dispositional qualities and positive actions to situational circumstances.

Stereotypes

Socially shared cognitive generalizations about the qualities of members in a particular group.

Stereotype Content Model

Stereotypes reflect beliefs about a group's warmth and competence.

Moral Exclusion

Opponents are seen as undeserving of moral rights and protections.

Dehumanization

Belief that outgroup members lack qualities that distinguish humans from other animals, rationalizing negative treatment.

Social Identity Theory

Group members emphasize their ingroup's value to enhance social identity and self-worth.

Intergroup Contact

Initial approach: The Contact Hypothesis - bringing groups together. It failed.

Creating Positive Contact

Factors augmenting positive contact include superordinate goals, successful cooperation, and a common enemy.

High-Quality Contact

Is best, but any contact is better than none.

Cognitive Cures for Conflict

Reducing cognitive biases can decrease intergroup conflict.

Recategorization

The common ingroup identity model.

Cross-categorization

Controlling stereotyped thinking

Factors Promoting Intergroup Forgiveness

Peaceful contact, Empathy, Exchange of apologies, Acceptance of a common group identity

Factors That Inhibit Intergroup Forgiveness

Strength of identification with the ingroup, Exclusion of the outgroup, Negative emotions (e.g., anger), Claiming victimization and exploitation by the outgroup

Learning to Cooperate

Schools, communities, and businesses use interventions to help members recognize conflict sources and manage differences effectively.

Jigsaw Learning Groups

School-based conflict resolution training: Define the conflict, Exchange Information, View from multiple perspectives, Generate solutions, Select mutually advantageous solution

Resolving Conflict: Conclusions

Intergroup conflict is not inevitable. Even adversarial groups can achieve coexistence by promoting positive contact and avoiding negative stereotypes.

The Robbers Cave study

Ended positively: Campers wanted to return to town in the same bus, and seating didn't follow group lines (Sherif et al., 1961, p. 182).

A Sense of Place

A group's ecology is defined as the living members of the group and the nonliving parts of its environment, with a focus on how individuals are arranged spatially.