Chapter 11: Intergroup behavior
Intergroup behavior = behavior among individuals that is regulated by those individuals’
awareness of and identification with different social groups.
Metatheory = a set of interrelated concepts and principles concerning which theories or
types of theory are appropriate.
Relative deprivation = a sense of having less than we feel entitled to.
→ refers to a perceived discrepancy between attainments or actualities and expectations or
entitlements.
J-curve = a graphical figure that captures the way in which relative deprivation arises when
attainments suddenly fall short of rising expectations.
2 forms of relative deprivation:
1. Egoistic relative deprivation, a feeling of personally having less than we feel we’re
entitled to, relative to our aspirations or to other individuals.
2. Fraternalistic relative deprivation, sense that our group has less than it is entitled
to, relative to its aspirations or to other groups.
4 other factors involved with fraternalistic relative deprivation translating into
competitive intergroup behavior or social protest:
● People need to identify strongly with their ingroup
● Groups that feel relatively deprived are unlikely to engage in collective action unless
such action is considered a practical and feasible way of bringing about social
change.
● Relative deprivation rests on perceptions of injustice
● It’s important to be able to predict with whom we compare ourselves, since
fraternalistic relative deprivation depends on the particular ingroup-outgroup
comparison.
4 steps in social movement participation:
1. Becoming part of the mobilization potential
2. Becoming a target of mobilization attempts
3. Developing motivation to participate
4. Overcoming barriers to participate
Ethnocentrism = evaluative preference for all aspects of our own group relative to other
groups.
Sherif believed that where groups compete over scarce resources, intergroup relations
become conflictual and ethnocentric.
He tested this with a procedure that involved 4 phases:
1. Boys engaged in various camp-wide activities, through which they formed friendships
when they arrived.
2. Camp was divided into two groups that split up friendships, groups were completely
50
, isolated.
3. Groups were brought together to engage in organized intergroup competitions
embracing sports contests and other activities.
→ generated fierce competition and intergroup hostility
4. The two groups were provided with superordinate goals (= goals that both groups
desire but that can be achieved only by both groups cooperating.)
Some notable points about these experiments:
● There was some latent ethnocentrism even in the absence of intergroup competition
● Prejudice, discrimination and ethnocentrism arose as a consequence of real
intergroup conflict.
● The boys didn’t have authoritarian or dogmatic personalities.
● The less-frustrated group (winner) was usually the one that expressed the greater
intergroup aggression.
● Ingroups formed despite the fact that friends were actually outgroup members.
● Simple contact between members of opposing groups didn’t improve intergroup
relations.
Realistic conflict theory = theory of intergroup conflict that explains intergroup behavior in
terms of the nature of goal relations between groups.
→ because so many variables are operating together in various studies, how can we know
that it is the nature of goal relations that ultimately determines intergroup behavior?
Competitive intergroup behavior spontaneously emerges:
● Even when goal relations between groups are not interdependent.
● Under conditions of explicitly non-competitive intergroup relations.
● Under conditions of explicitly cooperative intergroup relations.
Minimal group paradigm = experimental methodology to investigate the effect of social
categorisation alone on behavior.
Merely being categorized as a group member produces ethnocentrism and competitive
intergroup behavior.
Social categorization = classification of people as members of different social groups.
Social identity theory = theory of group membership and intergroup relations based on
self-categorization, social comparison and the construction of a shared self-definition in
terms of ingroup-defining properties.
→ two core premises are:
1. society is structured into distinct social groups that stand in power and status
relations to one another.
2. social categories provide members with a social identity
Social identity = the part of the self-concept that derives from our membership in social
groups.
Ingroup favoritism = behavior that favors one’s own group over other groups.
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Intergroup behavior = behavior among individuals that is regulated by those individuals’
awareness of and identification with different social groups.
Metatheory = a set of interrelated concepts and principles concerning which theories or
types of theory are appropriate.
Relative deprivation = a sense of having less than we feel entitled to.
→ refers to a perceived discrepancy between attainments or actualities and expectations or
entitlements.
J-curve = a graphical figure that captures the way in which relative deprivation arises when
attainments suddenly fall short of rising expectations.
2 forms of relative deprivation:
1. Egoistic relative deprivation, a feeling of personally having less than we feel we’re
entitled to, relative to our aspirations or to other individuals.
2. Fraternalistic relative deprivation, sense that our group has less than it is entitled
to, relative to its aspirations or to other groups.
4 other factors involved with fraternalistic relative deprivation translating into
competitive intergroup behavior or social protest:
● People need to identify strongly with their ingroup
● Groups that feel relatively deprived are unlikely to engage in collective action unless
such action is considered a practical and feasible way of bringing about social
change.
● Relative deprivation rests on perceptions of injustice
● It’s important to be able to predict with whom we compare ourselves, since
fraternalistic relative deprivation depends on the particular ingroup-outgroup
comparison.
4 steps in social movement participation:
1. Becoming part of the mobilization potential
2. Becoming a target of mobilization attempts
3. Developing motivation to participate
4. Overcoming barriers to participate
Ethnocentrism = evaluative preference for all aspects of our own group relative to other
groups.
Sherif believed that where groups compete over scarce resources, intergroup relations
become conflictual and ethnocentric.
He tested this with a procedure that involved 4 phases:
1. Boys engaged in various camp-wide activities, through which they formed friendships
when they arrived.
2. Camp was divided into two groups that split up friendships, groups were completely
50
, isolated.
3. Groups were brought together to engage in organized intergroup competitions
embracing sports contests and other activities.
→ generated fierce competition and intergroup hostility
4. The two groups were provided with superordinate goals (= goals that both groups
desire but that can be achieved only by both groups cooperating.)
Some notable points about these experiments:
● There was some latent ethnocentrism even in the absence of intergroup competition
● Prejudice, discrimination and ethnocentrism arose as a consequence of real
intergroup conflict.
● The boys didn’t have authoritarian or dogmatic personalities.
● The less-frustrated group (winner) was usually the one that expressed the greater
intergroup aggression.
● Ingroups formed despite the fact that friends were actually outgroup members.
● Simple contact between members of opposing groups didn’t improve intergroup
relations.
Realistic conflict theory = theory of intergroup conflict that explains intergroup behavior in
terms of the nature of goal relations between groups.
→ because so many variables are operating together in various studies, how can we know
that it is the nature of goal relations that ultimately determines intergroup behavior?
Competitive intergroup behavior spontaneously emerges:
● Even when goal relations between groups are not interdependent.
● Under conditions of explicitly non-competitive intergroup relations.
● Under conditions of explicitly cooperative intergroup relations.
Minimal group paradigm = experimental methodology to investigate the effect of social
categorisation alone on behavior.
Merely being categorized as a group member produces ethnocentrism and competitive
intergroup behavior.
Social categorization = classification of people as members of different social groups.
Social identity theory = theory of group membership and intergroup relations based on
self-categorization, social comparison and the construction of a shared self-definition in
terms of ingroup-defining properties.
→ two core premises are:
1. society is structured into distinct social groups that stand in power and status
relations to one another.
2. social categories provide members with a social identity
Social identity = the part of the self-concept that derives from our membership in social
groups.
Ingroup favoritism = behavior that favors one’s own group over other groups.
51
