Psychology of Human Relationships
Group Dynamics
Group: "Two or more individuals that see themselves as members of the same social category."
Why conflict happens?
Male warrior hypothesis
Males has the psychological mechanism to plan, initiate, and execute aggression, because they have to protect reproductive resources."
Van Vugt et al: gender on intergroup aggresion
harvard students: males and females
Computer simulation game. To win: Last alive, or most money at the end of the game. Actions per round:
Buy industrial resources
Trade
Buy military resources
Threat
Initiate war
Males are likely to provoke attacks
Realistic Group Conflict Theory (RGCT)
source of conflict:
Opposing goals
Limited resource
causes:
In-group favouritism
Out-group discrimination
in-group norms
Sherif et al: Robber's cave study
11-12 year olds: purposefully sampled, put in summer camp
Stage1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Camp bonding
Combine with neighbouring camp
Divide into groups - close friends separated
Create competition with a prize (opposing goals + limited resource)
Situation where they need to cooperate (broken truck) = common goal
in-group favouritism
out-group discrimination
decrease in-group favouritism
decrease out-group discrimination
increased cooperation
Conflict resolution
Contact hypothesis
Meeting + common goal
Criterions:
Acquaintance potential (frequency of meeting)
Institutional support
Equal status in meeting
Activity needing cooperation
Social cognitive learning theory
"People can learn through observing others"
Paluck et al: SCLT on conflict resolution
Background: conflict between Hutus and Tutsis
Rwandans (Hutus and Tutsis) - stratified sample
Watch film
questionnaire
Soap opera about reconciliation between Hutus and Tutsis
Increased trust and willingness to cooperate
Control: health film
Males likes fun f**k with their spouse, which makes them aggressive to other people to protect the spouse