What Creates Conflict?

  • Social Dilemmas
  • Competition * Perceived Injustice

Creating Conflict: Social Dilemmas

  • Social Dilemmas
  • Social trap
  • Situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing its self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior
  • Examples
  • The “Prisoners Dilemma”
  • Resolving social dilemmas
  • Regulation
  • Safeguard the common good
  • Make the group small
  • Communication
  • Change the payoffs * Appeal to altruistic norms

Creating Conflict: Competition

  • Competition
  • Realistic group conflict
  • Win-lose competition
  • Negative images of the other groups
  • Strong in-group cohesiveness
  • Pride

Creating Conflict: Perceived Injustice

  • Perceived Injustice
  • People perceive justice as equity
  • Distribution of rewards in proportion to individuals’ contributions
  • If one contributes more and benefits less, he will feel exploited

How Can Peace Be Achieved?

  • Contact
  • Cooperation * Communication

Creating Peace: Contact

  • Predicts decreased prejudice
  • Friendship
  • Those who form friendships with out-group members develop more positive attitudes toward the out-group
  • Equal-status contact
  • Contact on an equal basis
  • To reduce prejudice, interracial contact should be between persons equal in status

Creating Peace: Cooperation

  • Common external threats build cohesiveness
  • Subordinate goals foster cooperation
  • Shared goal that necessitates cooperative effort
  • Group and subordinate identities

Creating Peace: Communication

  • Bargaining
  • Seeking an agreement to a conflict through direct negotiation between parties * Tough bargaining may lower the other party’s expectations, but can sometimes backfire
  • Mediation
  • Attempt by a neutral third party to resolve a conflict by facilitating communication and offering suggestions
  • Integrative agreements
  • Win-win agreements that reconcile both parties’ interests to their mutual benefit
  • Arbitration
  • Resolution of a conflict by a neutral third party who studies both sides and imposes a settlement
  • Final-offer arbitration

Motivates each party to make a reasonable proposal