The Robbers Cave experiment : intergroup conflict and cooperation
"In this famous experiment, one of the earliest in inter-group relationships, two dozen twelve-year-old boys in summer camp were formed into two groups, the Rattlers and the Eagles, and induced first to become militantly ethnocentric, then intensely cooperative. Friction and stereotyping were stimulated by a tug-of-war, by frustrations perceived to be caused by the "out" group, and by separation from the others. Harmony was stimulated by close contact between previously hostile groups and by the introduction of goals that neither group could meet alone. The experiment demonstrated that conflict and enmity between groups can be transformed into cooperation and vice versa and that circumstances, goals, and external manipulation can alter behavior. Some have seen the findings of the experiment as having implications for reduction of hostility among racial and ethnic groups and among nations, while recognizing the difficulty of control of larger groups."--Publisher's description
Print Book, English, 1988
1st Wesleyan ed View all formats and editions
Wesleyan University Press ; Distributed by Harper & Row, Middletown, Conn., Scranton, Pa., 1988
Case studies
xxxi, 229 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
9780819551030, 9780819561947, 0819551031, 0819561940
16275958
Integrating field work and laboratory in small group research
Approach, hypotheses, and general design of the study
Role of staff; subject selection; experimental site
Experimental formation of ingroups
Intergroup relations: production of negative attitudes toward the outgroup
Intergroup relations: assessment of ingroup functioning and negative attitudes toward the outgroup
Intergroup relations: reducing friction
Summary and conclusions
Reprint. Previously published: Norman, Okla. : University Book Exchange, 1961