Research suggests that prejudice and intergroup conflict may be reduced by _____________________ interaction and ______________________goals.
Research suggests that prejudice and intergroup conflict may be reduced by _____________________ interaction and ______________________goals.
Prejudice is biased thinking about a group. It refers to beliefs, thoughts, attitudes someone holds about a group of people. It is actually a preconceived judgment and it is not based on a prior experience. Types of Prejudice can be racism, sexism, Classism, Homophobia etc. Considering Homosexuals differently or less of a person is usually a type of Prejudice only or giving preference or considering certain group as superior on irrelevant grounds is also Prejudice.
Intergroup conflicts can be described as any formal or informal disagreements between the members of the two or more groups, or disagreements among the groups as a whole, such as in work department or organizations.
There are various theories that accounts for the reason or factors that leads to prejudice and intergroup conflicts and the ways to reduce it. The major strategies for reducing prejudice and hostility among groups:
Contact hypothesis- Contact hypothesis states that intergroup conflict can be reduced with communication between conflicting groups. This hypothesis was suggested by Gordon Allport, he gave four conditions that can reduce the prejudice and conflicts between the groups. Four conditions includes: equal status, cooperation, common goals and support by social authorities. He believed that interaction and cooperation is achievable in non-competitive environment.
Equal status contact refers to the interaction among the groups members having equal or similar characteristics, backgrounds and qualities. This will come in affect if the differences among the group based on their wealth, background or power is minimized. Such interactions are likely to induce friendships and likings among the group members.
Realistic conflict theory hypothesized by Muzafer Sherif and Carolyn Sherif studied how the prejudice among the group arises. They conducted the Robber's Cave Experiment with 22 boys from similar background, they were divided into two groups. The two groups initially were kept separate, the group members had to stay in a cave where they got friendly among each other. Then the two groups finally faced each other for resources which became the cause of competitiveness and gave rise to conflicts and hostility among the members of opposing groups. Then the next activity was with subordinate goals, these are the common goals that cannot be achieved by one group alone and needs the support of other group. The tasks involved were, removing the blockage from the source of water, finding a movie together. To achieve such subordinate goals required cooperative interaction, which led to conflict resolution.
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